A pool with a lounge and lounge chairs

This Brazilian Beach House Seemingly Floats Among The Trees

2024 Best of Year Winner for Beach House

Raised atop piloti on a steeply sloping site in Guarujá, Brazil, the 8,450-square-foot rectilinear home by Studio MK27 is nestled strategically within the Atlantic Forest canopy, high enough to afford Atlantic Ocean vistas, enveloping its residents in nature. Access between the ground-floor sleeping wing—sunlit and ventilated through a perforated cobogó, a type of concrete Brazilian screen, that spans the eastern facade—and upper living spaces is provided only by an exterior spiral staircase that juts out into the surrounding jungle. Seemingly floating among the trees, the upper platform hosts a pavilion containing the kitchen, dining room, and living room with sliding glass doors that can be opened to the furnished pool deck for a seamless indoor-outdoor experience. Contrasting the concrete structure, accessories and furniture by such Brazilian makers as José Bezerra, Israel Piaçava, Pedro Petry, and Sergio Rodrigues rendered in straw, leather, and wood craft warm interiors that celebrate national design and the residence’s immediate context.


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A pool with a lounge and lounge chairs
A spiral staircase in the middle of a tropical garden
A house in the jungle with a roof made out of bricks
A spiral staircase
A view of a house in the middle of a forest

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