The House that Abandons Reference to the Modernist Housing Machine

The Sand House, located in Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil, is a unique project that combines the impeccable architecture of Studio MK27 with a paradisiacal beach. Situated in front of the stunning Atlantic Ocean, the house was designed to seamlessly blend with the surrounding nature.
Immersed in the lush tropical forest that leads to a dazzling beach, the Sand House is a true experimentation of dissolving architecture in natural space. With a minimal functional program, the house eliminates unnecessary enclosed spaces such as corridors and entrance halls.
The house is composed of five separate volumes, each dedicated to a specific function: kitchen, dining room, living room, master bedroom, and guest bedrooms. These volumes rest on a rectangular wooden deck, slightly elevated from the ground, creating a visual connection between the spaces.
The entire project is covered by a rustic eucalyptus pergola, supported by 14 laminated wooden frames. This covering features rectangular openings that interrupt its continuity, allowing the passage of existing trees on the site and natural light. This permeability between architecture and nature reduces the distance between them.
The Sand House features a pool set apart from the main structure, near the beach. The pool has a curvilinear design, reminiscent of natural forms, and inside it presents two opposing sets of steps, creating a central rectangular area.
The orientation of the pool is rotated in relation to the main structure, creating a dynamic dialogue between the pool, the house, and the neighboring beach. Additionally, the presence of the pool and its interaction with the surrounding nature make it also considered an integral part of the house.
The architecture of the Sand House, with its permeability, the filtered light through the roof openings, and the suggestive shadows that create spectacular scenes throughout the day, provides a unique sensory experience. Nature, light, shadows, and the constant sound of the ocean become the fundamental materials of this exceptional project.
In summary, the Sand House is an architectural work that harmoniously integrates with the natural environment that surrounds it. With its reduction of enclosed spaces to the necessary minimum, distinct volumes connected by a wooden deck, and a permeable roof, this house offers a unique sensory experience where nature becomes a fundamental part of the architectural design.
Location: Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil
Project: July 2015
Completion: April 2019
Land Area: 6,570 m2
Built Area: 819 m2
Architecture and Interiors: Studio MK27
Author: Marcio Kogan
Co-author: Marcio Tanaka
Interiors: Diana Radomysler, Serge Cajfinger
Architecture Team: Oswaldo Pessano, Beatriz Meyer
Interiors Team: Pedro Ribeiro
Construction Company: Kross Engenharia
Structural Engineering: Inner Engenharia e Gerenciamento
Wooden Structural Engineering: Carpinteria Estruturas de Madeira, Rewood
Landscape Design: Isabel Duprat Arquitetura Paisagística
Manufacturers: COMARX, Lightworks, Marcenaria Dati, Monteiro Irrigação, Pedras Bellas Artes, Plancus, Tresuno, mado
Photographer: Fernando Guerra
0:00 - The Beach
0:42 - The House/Nature
2:00 - The Volumes/Boxes
2:31 - Pergolas
3:23 - Rectangle Openings
4:20 - The Pool
5:18 - Interiors
6:36 - Final Takes

[@adamndirtyape]

This house is magnificent. The play of light throughout the house is masterful. As you say late in the video, the rooms seem complete even though they are lightly furnished and decorated, partly because the shifting light throughout the house provides visual details that prevent the spaces from feeling sparse. Add in the rich wood finishing and the judicious use of carpeting and ornamentation and this house achieves something that many modernist houses never do - it actually feels like a home. Thanks for posting this one.

[@mirageon]

Thank you for your feedback! 🙏 I'm glad you appreciated the magnificence of the house, especially the play of light and the visual details it offers. 🏡✨ With the rich wood finishes and the thoughtful use of carpets and ornamentation, this house truly conveys a cozy feeling. 😊 Thank you for sharing your comment!

[@jedwards1792]

What an amazing, gorgeous house. I would love to spend a few weeks here.

[@harrisbrownnurses]

Great use of material...extremely light and airy...

[@marcvanschuylenbergh6213]

STUNNING !!!!.....Amazing CONCEPT !!!!

[@mirageon]

You're welcome! 😉

[@lckaren]

I could live there all year long-quite practical to me

[@nemesisjohn2557]

Waoo! Armonia con la naturaleza, es un espacio divino.

[@nguyenvantrungvacongsu]

meticulous job, beautifull house design,good video,like and thanks

[@mirageon]

Thanks 👌😊

[@DavidGBlair]

Nice concept. I like the idea of a secondary roof to reduce the heat. But, as someone else noted. How do you clean the roof? Screen the thing and it would be a great screen porch

[@cherrybest6256]

It's beautiful. I'd love to see it with solar panels and rain water tanks.

[@mariovh]

WoW But what about the rain?

[@waterboi4846]

Tropical + open space…death by mosquito

[@rachelth36o9t]

2:20 will be my favorite chilling spot

[@luckyleaprealestate]

amazing house ❤

[@harperwelch5147]

This is very much a Modernist house. It’s using natural materials, but the basic form can be seen in early 1950’s houses.

[@mirageon]

Indeed, the formal structure of the Sand House demonstrates that it is a modernist house. However, while the modernist machine valued functionality, pure geometry, and industrial technology, the Sand House adopts a more organic approach, in harmony with the natural environment. The architecture of the Sand House dissolves into the natural space, incorporating itself into the lush tropical forest and stunning beach. Unlike the modernist machine, which often stood out as an isolated and distinct structure from the surroundings, the Sand House seeks to merge with nature and create a visual and sensory connection with the environment. Furthermore, it reduces the functional program to the bare minimum, avoiding unnecessary enclosed spaces like corridors and entrance halls, in contrast to the rationality and efficiency of the modernist machine. By rejecting the characteristic elements of the modernist machine and embracing a more sensitive approach to the natural context, the Sand House aims to provide a unique sensory experience, where nature, light, shadows, and the sound of the ocean become the fundamental materials of the project.

[@harperwelch5147]

@@mirageon The Modernist House has been embracing the outdoors and using exposed timber and wood paneling since the 1940’s. This is nothing new. The featured house is bigger. Way bigger. But these notions you’re talking about are all integral to American Mid Century homes all over the West Coast and have been for 70 years. I suggest you do homework about early Modernist residential design to better understand.

[@chuck-jy7mz]

and the sculpture at the end is very 50's

[@archistudio4723]

wow wow

[@R.E.A.L.I.T.Y]

A CGI - unbuilt project. In the forest leaves etc blow onto the fragile eucalyptus twig canopy. Noone can walk on it to clean it.

[@mirageon]

They use a leaf blower from underneath, making the cleaning much easier this way 😉 Thank you for your comment!🙏

[@leosrule5691]

Im usually not a fan of the 'modern' look, but i do like the uniqueness of this house - as a vacation destination; i wouldnt want to live there year round.

[@jayess6318]

So if I wake up at 3 in the morning and want to get something from the Kitchen, I have to walk outside past 3 other structures to get there? If I am in the living room, I have to phone someone in the kitchen if I wanted them to bring me something? Practical?

[@donaldvanvliet9039]

That’s true in most closed concept houses too, you’re only argument is that you have to walk ‘outside’ to go from one room to the next, which isn’t a big deal in the tropics.

[@thierryfozing6749]

bro this place is probably full of snakes...

[@armaanh5396]

How much does it COST

[@rupaliembry]

Doesn’t it ever rain there? 🌂

[@mirageon]

Hello! Yes, the rain passes through the eucalyptus pergola 🤔😉

[@giuseppe4909]

Like many architectural concepts, it succeeds in design, yet fails in day to day practicality.

[@driller840]

This concept reveals the layback nature of the area. It blends perfectly with the lifestyle. I would agree if it where elsewhere.

[@mokotedimogadime8567]

I think it works as a lifestyle getaway retreat. One can easily enjoy this type of arrangement on occassions

[@bootsross]

I think it's quite practical in it's energy efficiency and climate control areas. For example, why would you need to cool a 20 seating dining room or extra bedrooms when all you need is a getaway weekend kitchen and master for two? I think the vision, form, function, and execution is phenomenal. And it allows for add ons well. The potential for use is inspiring.

[@patrickmullane30]

It depends where it’s located.

[@flogozgeik1898]

Main issue of architecture itself...much form, less function, always

[@carlosbedoya1954]

What about bugs? Haha😊

[@mirageon]

If you can't beat them, join them 🦋🕷️🐞 🐝

[@timmer9696]

Cool but ridiculous

[@antoniiocaluso1071]

rich folks get what they want, call it this-or-that Style. the negatives obvious in this residence are numerous, and the professional viewers here likely have thought of them already. Yeah, its...cool, and I'm envious, sure, but...does the world in 2023 really need more architectural porn to "guide" us???

[@alexgeorgescu1843]

The Joy of the Lord is my strength

[@johnblaine1479]

Beautiful , helped by artistic placement of the camera. Ruined by the incessant irritating industrial noise that pretends to be music , and the babble that is a parody of language that actually does anything but do the architecture justice. . “ poetic nooks, dialogue between the pool and……, etc . Thank goodness that there is a mute button to turn the sound off

[@mirageon]

Thank you for commenting. I hope you enjoy the other houses I share. I'll try to improve the narration. Thanks! 🤗💕