Patio Guapuruvu House | Estudio Piloti Arquitetura | Camanducaia, Brazil

This page is also available in the following languages:🇷🇺🇺🇦🇫🇷🇩🇪🇪🇸🇵🇱🇨🇳

Modern minimalist architectural house with wooden elements and lush green trees in the background

Mountain Retreat in Mantecira

At an elevation of 1250 meters in the Mantecira mountain range, the Patio Guapuruvu house by Estudio Piloti Arquitetura presents a contemporary rural sanctuary designed around a central courtyard that blurs the boundary between domestic life and nature. The house embodies simplicity, sustainability, and connection, offering its inhabitants a tranquil dialogue with the landscape.

Situated on a 20,000 m² slope in Camanducaia, the house uses a north-facing orientation, providing panoramic views of forested valleys while shielding from cold southern winds.

Architecture Rooted in Place

The concept of the courtyard is central to the design. Three independent volumes — the main house, garage, and guesthouse — are arranged around a 10×10-meter courtyard. This configuration balances intimacy and openness, allowing the space to be used in various ways: from drying crops to dining around a campfire under the stars.

Each building has its own entrance, providing flexibility in different life rhythms. The courtyard functions both as a functional workspace and a sociable center, evoking the atmosphere of traditional Brazilian farms while maintaining modern architectural restraint.

Honest Materials and Local Craftsmanship

Designed for accessibility, speed, and sustainability, the Patio Guapuruvu house uses local technologies and natural materials in their purest form.

Mixed earth walls, built from excavated local soil, provide thermal mass and a tactile connection to the site.
Polished concrete floors, installed on polystyrene panels, ensure comfort in extreme regional temperatures.
Courtyard ceramic tiles evoke the drying racks of historic coffee plantations — a subtle tribute to regional culture.

The main and guest houses feature a wooden glued roof, insulated with panels and 30 cm thick compressed earth walls for effective climate control. The garage, serving as a utility and tool room, uses a simpler palette: exposed concrete, cobogós ceramic bricks, and panel boards, reflecting the hierarchy of purpose and economy.

Sustainable Systems in Harmony with Nature

Ecological responsibility is the core principle of this project. The wastewater treatment system employs an ecological basin with evapotranspiration, where banana trees filter wastewater naturally through bacterial filtration. Rainwater infiltration replenishes groundwater, preserving the natural hydrological cycle of the site.

Every decision, from material reuse to minimal earthworks, reflects the aesthetic of Estudio Piloti — building with the land, not against it. Using excavated earth for walls and ecologically sustainable timber reduces the carbon footprint, connecting architecture to its environment.

Life Between Earth and Sky

The house's location on an intermediate level of the terrain offers two distinct levels of perception:

The immediate forest zone, where wild nature becomes part of daily life, and
The distant valley, where changing light and weather accentuate the horizon.

This duality — between closeness and spaciousness, sanctuary and openness — defines the poetic character of Patio Guapuruvu. The result is a house that honors folk wisdom through modern clarity of design, inviting residents to live in harmony with the rhythm of nature.

Essential Beauty Through Simplicity

In its earthy textures, low-effort construction, and layout centered on the courtyard, Patio Guapuruvu reduces architecture to its essence — space, light, and materials.

Embracing raw materials, local craftsmanship, and passive design, Estudio Piloti Arquitetura creates a timeless home that is both eco-friendly and emotionally resilient — a shrine formed by the landscape itself.