São Paulo-based interior architect Marilia Pellegrini describes her Casa das Palmeiras residential commission in the Alphaville neighbourhood of São Paulo as a dream project. She says she had ideal freedom and full-project control that allowed her to create a cohesive residence among the existing imperial palm trees.
According to Pellegrini, the project is chiefly based on a watercolour she created while painting with her daughters during the pandemic. It is a low-flung compound of deceiving simplicity.
The house itself has been sunken into the ground so that it sits below the street level. This allows privacy and intimacy as the structure and its surrounding landscaped garden is all on its own level.
The house turns its back to the street and opens up toward the courtyard, garden and swimming pool. The greenery around the house defines the house that does not fight its surroundings but rather melts into them. The hoe me is characterized by its low profile, open spaces and minimal fixed elements.
There are numerous sets of partitions, sliding doors and windows that allow flexibility and maximum exposure to the outdoors.
A curvy retro canopy in cream slim-profile concrete works with the existing trees while slender cream pillars echo the trunks of the palm trees. The house is a modernist gem that looks as if had been on the site for a long time.
Inside, a pared-down, minimalist floor plan draws the focus toward the expansive open area that houses multiple functions including living room, dining room, sitting and entertainment areas.
Added to this are four bedrooms, a guest bathroom and a gym. New contemporary pieces and and furnishings are mixed with the client’s own modernist collection of that includes pieces by Marcel Breuer, Achilles Castiglioni and Charles & Ray Eames.
The impressive landscaping is by São Paulo-based Renata Tilli known for confident yet intimate residential projects where she allows the existing nature dictate the outcome.
Established 50 years ago and now consisting of 33 gated communities Alphaville is an affluent real estate development neighbourhood of Sao Paulo. Tuija Seipell
Images Fran Parente
