Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Residential Masterpieces 27

68 pages, ills colour & bw, Japanese/English  

Yoshio Futagawa’s photographic homage to two single-family residences in São Paulo designed by architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha brings allows an intimate look at domestic life shaped by the contrast between exposed concrete surfaces and lush natural surroundings. Designed and built in the early 1970s, both houses are archetypal examples of the so-called “Brazilian Brutalism” style for which the architect is famous. At the time, they became a laboratory for the architect’s political beliefs as he developed a language and spatiality of his own. Besides their remarkable aesthetic expression, the houses feature unique solutions related to the organisation of the programme.

King House 1972