Built from steel beams heavy enough to withstand the strong sea winds that blow up the 65-foot-high escarpment on which it sits, the house has an outer structure that levitates 14.6 inches off the ground and frames an immense void, 151 feet long and 11 feet high, with bookends of biriba at either side. Walls of Viroc (a dense wood-and-cement composite) collapse in on themselves like folding screens, creating a house within a house. A veranda overlooking the gardens on either side loops around the interior space, an open-air hallway that connects three bedrooms, a small den, a bathroom and a living room. “The engineer was afraid when we showed him the plans,” Kogan says. “It’s not complicated, but it’s audacious.” Approaching from the road outside, it’s easy to overlook the ambitious building, which hides behind heliconias, colocasias, araçás and erythrinas, making itself visible only in pieces.

Source: International New York Times September 08, 2021 10:52 UTC