Pier House | Gabriel Grinspum + Mariana Simas

Pier House, image courtesy of Mariana Simas

Gabriel Grinspum and Mariana Simas have completed the Pier House located in Brazil’s Saco Do Mamangua, Paraty.

+ Project description courtesy of Mariana Simas

The “pier house” was built to house a sailboat during the week and its owners during the weekends. The alternate usage was suggested by the clients, a young couple from São Paulo.

Pier House, image courtesy of Mariana Simas

The proposal was to divide the house in two volumes. The first one is a solid box covered with whitewash, and its “muxarabi” windows filter the light and allow permanent ventilation. It is the result of the region’s typical construction method, a legacy from colonial times. The second one was constructed with metal tile and pre-fabricated wood structure. This building has profited from the construction’s industrialization in order to dispense the building site and thus avoid the environmental impact.

Pier House, image courtesy of Mariana Simas

The house situation in the site has been defined by two premises: the need for proximity to water in order to the boat to enter and preserve the dense vegetation of rainforest. The site is in the Saco do Mamanguá, RJ, a tropical fjord accessible only by boat without power, the very archetype of lost paradise. In this context, the house is pier together the idea of the “noble savage” with modern “eulogy of the machine”. Like a sailboat, poetic symbol of harmony between nature and human condition and, currently, subject of an ultra-sophisticated and green design, the pier house is the house of the “natural man” that makes use of sustainable benefits of technological advance.

Pier House - Elevation + Floor plans, drawing courtesy of Mariana Simas

+ Project credits / data

Project: Pier House
Location: Saco do mamanguá. Paraty. RJ
Project: July, 2007
Conclusion: July, 2009
Site plan area: 4000 m²
Built area: 60 m²

Architecture
Author: Gabriel Grinspum . Mariana Simas
Trainee: Isabel Sperry

Photographer: Pedro Vannucchi

General contractor: Luciênio Costa
Metal tile: Perfilor
Joinery: Esquadrias e Móveis da Manqueira

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Mariana Simas