Cube House is a kind of antithesis to previous studio mk27 projects: instead of seeking beauty in light and svelte proportions, here the idea was to design using mass and weight. Furthermore, there is no “play” of volumes, but rather a concrete monolith with openings on the façades, as a result of material subtraction processes.

On the ground floor, the living room is placed in a negative base which creates a suspension effect for the structure – when the sliding metallic doors are opened, exposing the structure with its cylindrical pilotis. Thus, the collective area extends and continues the outside.

On the second floor, where the concrete reaffirms its density, the windows distribution follow internal program. For the rooms, there are three equal-sized openings facing the pool and, for the TV room, another one turned back. On the third floor, where the master suite and an office are located, a void passes through the entire floor, as a parallelepiped of empty mass subtracted from the concrete.

Cube House creates a dialogue with the tradition of modern architecture in São Paulo – the brutalism of architects such as Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Vilanova Artigas. But the radical roughness of the 60’s decants here in soft spaces that prioritize, unlike the anteceding projects, criteria such as comfort, functionality and livability. The use of raw concrete and the architecture done by massive blocks on the outside remain.

This project takes up ideas previously developed by studio mk27 in Micasa VolB (2006-2007) – an annex to a furniture store that humorously incorporated, in the finished project, visualizations of usual constructive processes of the so-called Paulista School.

Gabriel Kogan

CUBO

location > são paulo . sp . brazil
project > october . 2008
completion > july . 2012
site area > 900 sqm
built area > 540 sqm
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architecture and interior design > studio mk27
architect > marcio kogan
co-architect > suzana glogowski
interior design > diana radomysler
architecture team > henrique bustamante . maria cristina motta
interiors team > anna hellena villela . suzana glogowski
communication team > mariana simas
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contractor > fairbanks & pilnick
structure engineer > gilberto pinto rodrigues
landscape designer > isabel duprat
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photographer > fernando guerra

Cube House is a kind of antithesis to previous studio mk27 projects: instead of seeking beauty in light and svelte proportions, here the idea was to design using mass and weight. Furthermore, there is no “play” of volumes, but rather a concrete monolith with openings on the façades, as a result of material subtraction processes.

On the ground floor, the living room is placed in a negative base which creates a suspension effect for the structure – when the sliding metallic doors are opened, exposing the structure with its cylindrical pilotis. Thus, the collective area extends and continues the outside.

On the second floor, where the concrete reaffirms its density, the windows distribution follow internal program. For the rooms, there are three equal-sized openings facing the pool and, for the TV room, another one turned back. On the third floor, where the master suite and an office are located, a void passes through the entire floor, as a parallelepiped of empty mass subtracted from the concrete.

Cube House creates a dialogue with the tradition of modern architecture in São Paulo – the brutalism of architects such as Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Vilanova Artigas. But the radical roughness of the 60’s decants here in soft spaces that prioritize, unlike the anteceding projects, criteria such as comfort, functionality and livability. The use of raw concrete and the architecture done by massive blocks on the outside remain.

This project takes up ideas previously developed by studio mk27 in Micasa VolB (2006-2007) – an annex to a furniture store that humorously incorporated, in the finished project, visualizations of usual constructive processes of the so-called Paulista School.

Gabriel Kogan