Emiliano Rio by Studio Arthur Casas and Oppenheim Architecture & Design: 2017 Best of Year Winner for Foreign Boutique Hotel

How can you compete with one of most exuberant beach views on the planet? That was the conundrum facing Interior Design Hall of Fame member Arthur Casas and architect Chad Oppenheim when they were working on a hotel at the famed Copacabana beach. Their answer came in the form of a scheme that blends Brazilian modernism with a contemporary sensibility of understated elegance. “The architecture is tranquil and natural,” Oppenheim says, “the result of a love affair with the city.”

Softening the dividing line between outside and in, the facade’s ingenious system of perforated fiberglass panels reinterprets the breeze block typically found in Brazilian architecture. Their generous openings allow both ocean views and cooling air to enter, while bathing the 90 guest rooms and suites in a seductive play of light and shadow. The interior’s swoopy abstraction and organic shapes are inherited from the famous Copacabana sidewalks by landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. A largely pale color scheme is punctuated by wood paneling and accents in brown and green. The furniture selection mixes noted local modernists such as Lina Bo Bardi and Sergio Rodrigues with Isamu Noguchi and, later, Paola Lenti.

Project Team: Studio Arthur Casas: Cristiane Trolesi; Nara Telles; Felipe Bueno; Adriana Yin; Nara Rosetto; Victoria Chaves; Renata Adoni; Raul Cano; Lucas Takaoka; Adriana Andugar. Oppenheim Architecture & Design: Carl Römer; Kevin Heidorn; Alex Lozano; Alexis Mogul; Olivier Montfort.

> See more from the December 2017 issue of Interior Design

> See all 2017 Best of Year winners and honorees