Terra e Tuma revives ramshackle home in Brazil with blocks and vegetation

A man in Brazil approached Terra e Tuma Architects to rebuild his mother's dilapidated house on the outskirts of São Paulo.

Designed for Ms. Dalva, a person of few means, ‘Vila Matilde House’ was rebuilt using standard concrete blocks and decorated with plenty of trees and plants. The economically viable dwelling was built in a short period of time and won ArchDaily's 'Building of the year (2016)' competition. When Terra e Tuma Architects arrived to Ms. Dalva’s old home, the building had severe structural and sanitary problems. But she didn’t want to sell the only home she knew to move into a small apartment in a different district. The first stage of the project required carefully demolishing the old house — a complicated process that lasted four months — while simultaneously adding new foundations.

Vila Matilde House was rebuilt in just 10 months with affordable concrete blocks and named after the neighborhood in which it stands. Ms. Dalva’s new, minimalistic, 3-storey home maximizes the site’s narrow constraints and features a living room, washroom, kitchen, laundry and bedroom on the ground level displayed around a central courtyard.

The second floor accommodates the living room, and a guest room and vegetable garden on teh rooftop terrace crown the entire home. The architects said Vila Matilde House comprised “a simple solution, result of a long, complex and gratifying process.”