This house reflecting the modern role of form relative to function is located in Bracgança Paulista, Brazil and designed by architects Reinach Mendonća. Throughout the period of Victorian times, Ruskin argued in the “stones of Venice” that the perfect design of ornaments emphasizing form in Victorian Britain portrayed the lack of freedom and identity the workers were allowed to have. With the passing of time architecture ascended into a field of modernism with authors and architects such as Jean-Louis Cohen trimming down the value and symbol of perfect ornaments back into the basic shapes of Geometry. It is through this transition from portrayal of identity and cultural relevance through ornaments, to the exploration of perhaps simpler and more genuine mediums to do so, that modernism took place.
As I analyze the house above, at first glance I see many square shapes, pillars, concrete walls and slabs, wood made ceiling, floor to ceiling fenestration, enfilade design sideboard, different styles of chairs. With depth into these observation I notice the large fenestration allows great natural lighting and the sliding doors when opened erase the concept of threshold separate the outside from the inside. Furthermore the different styles of chairs as opposed to walls or partitioning separate the living room from the kitchen and so on. Observing the house above one may question and have a hard time geographically locating where this house could however, what stimulates interest as one feeds into the environment, is the identity and cultural values that hide within the materials (wood, tiles, rock) which would’ve been communicated through ubiquitously precise ornaments in Victorian times. Design stems from our ability to ignore preconceived notions and may hap the absence of cultural representation with all the visual ornaments that were emphasized in Victorian times, gives space to personality and allows one to be part of the story.
Source:
https://www.archdaily.com/924537/dmg-residence-reinach-mendonca-arquitetos-associados
