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Mosquito-Net Facade Defines Tropical RRCasa on Brazil’s Coast

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A giant mosquito net forms the entire facade on both sides of this house for Sao Paolo, in Brazil, a short stroll from the sea.  The RR Casa is entirely open to cross breezes straight through the house – sheltered under a huge, simple outer shell structure.

These 50 foot tall mosquito nets can be fully opened during the mosquito-free seasons , yet are capable of keeping the insects out, without creating an obstacle for the ocean view and wind.

Each night, when mosquitoes attack, the house is sealed safely within its completely open shell.

To reduce the need for any air conditioning; materials with very little thermal mass were selected, and all materials were used as sparingly as possible; to create just the bare minimum needs of shelter, while preventing the accumulation of heat absorption.

The sun is filtered in such a natural way that walking within the interior almost feels like taking a stroll through the forest canopy outside.

The relatively narrow footprint of the living quarters runs straight down the middle of the outer shell.

Internal “windows” on the sleeping quarter upstairs allow the breezes to pass right through the space at night while its residents sleep.

The whole structure is elevated above ground level to both prevent insect attack from the ground, and to preserve the natural habitat of the rain forest setting.

The exterior structure is supported by concrete pillars cast on site. All other components used in the construction are pre-fabricated and were simply mounted in place on the construction site.

This very bad-ass exterior seems designed to keep more than mosquito-sized predators at bay. But actually, the use of bright surfaces simply minimizes the absorption of solar radiation so the building needs only a minimum of energy.

While this simple and elegant solution to tropical living is already very energy efficient because of its spare use of material and reliance on cross breezes and open shade for cooling, a solar roof is also planned for a later addition.

By Vinicius Andrade and Marcelo Morettin, Andrade Morettin Associated Architects.

Source: HouseDesignNews
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