Taipa House Reimagines Vernacular Taipa For a Warm Modern Retreat
Taipa House sits in Brasília, Brazil, a single-story house by Valéria Gontijo + Arquitetos shaped by raw earth and a tight, convivial plan. The project, designed in 2024 for a sloped site with views of Lake Paranoá, balances compact living with tactile craft. Warm materials, measured ceilings, and an L-shaped layout anchor a retreat built for easy gatherings and daily use.
A quiet line of rammed earth meets the lawn. Sun strikes its ridged surface as a veranda carries shade along the slope toward a blue slice of water.
This is a single-story house in Brasília by Valéria Gontijo + Arquitetos, arranged as an L and built from compacted earth lifted from the site. The focus stays on material and build: walls that temper heat and sound, a palette that invites touch, and rooms scaled for company.
Formed In Earth
Rammed earth sets the project’s identity, its layered courses reading like cut terrain. The method compacts local soil in timber forms, delivering thick walls that hold coolness by day and release warmth after dark. Texture does real work here. Light rakes across the surface and records time, while the mass dampens noise for a calm interior.
Plan Along The Slope
An L-shaped plan tucks into the incline and opens to Lake Paranoá. One wing carries the social rooms; the other holds two suites, each close to the garden and pool. Circulation stays short. Lower ceilings compress volume to keep a human scale, pushing attention to the veranda where breeze, shade, and view meet.
Rooms For Gathering
The living room connects directly to a gourmet area rather than being walled away. Cooking becomes the social engine, with movement flowing from kitchen to veranda and pool without a threshold break. Materials warm the mood. Rustic granite underfoot, reclaimed wood, and biribinha latticework soften edges and tune light for long meals and unhurried afternoons.
Tactile Palette, Daily Use
Every room stays compact and purposeful: kitchen, laundry, covered veranda, two-car garage, and a pool aligned to sun and view. The palette ties them together. Earth walls meet wood joinery and cool stone, so touch, temperature, and sound guide comfort rather than mechanical bravado.
Local Craft, Shared Knowledge
Construction relied on local labor experienced with alternative techniques from the wider region. A prototype informed mix and compaction, then crews in Brasília carried the method through with steady rhythm and care. The house becomes a quiet proof. It is the first in a planned family compound, setting a standard for clarity, durability, and restraint.
Toward evening the earth deepens to amber while the veranda holds a stripe of cool shade. The walls do the heavy lifting, and the day winds down easily.
Photography by Front
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