Descended as he is from a distinguished line of artists and designers, it’s no surprise Rodrigo Ohtake decided to embark upon a career in architecture. His grandmother was the Japanese-Brazilian artist Tomie Ohtake, while his father was the architect Ruy Ohtake, an apprentice of Oscar Niemeyer.
Ruy’s vision has profoundly influenced his son, who joined his studio as a trainee after studying at the FAU-USP and the Milan Politecnico. ‘What I learnt from him is infinite,’ he says. ‘He made me focus on details, on proportions, on colours, on the functional role of architecture in civil society.’
Rodrigo’s latest project is a very personal one: a modular, ecological holiday home for his family in Ibiúna, in the countryside about an hour and a half from São Paulo, where he lives and works. He comes here often for weekends with his wife Ana Carolina and their children Ivan, Lia and Tom. ‘We use it to relax after a busy week in the city,’ he says.‘It is ideal for reconnecting with the ecosystem.’
What's everyone reading?
The retreat was created in collaboration with SysHaus, a Brazilian construction company known for producing prefabricated houses. ‘They asked my studio to design a property that did not look like “the usual modular prefabricated house”,’ he recalls.
In order to create something new and harmonious, Rodrigo came up with a design composed of several prefabricated modules, joined together, with spaces left in-between that act as social areas, where the living room, dining room and kitchen are located. The house can be built and delivered anywhere in Brazil in 120 working days.
‘I wanted this modular project to be an example of something built by man, but in total harmony with nature,’ Rodrigo explains. ‘My intention was also to show everyone that a prefabricated house is not necessarily an exclusively urban concept.’
Aside from its ingenious construction and configuration, the most striking aspect of this home is its exuberant palette. ‘We always use colours in our designs. For me, colour represents joy,’ Rodrigo declares.
He chose orange as the protagonist of the interior to contrast with the ‘super-powerful’ green of the lush vegetation surrounding the house. ‘The other colour that stands out is the blue of the walls that act as an enclosure for the house.’
Wrapped as it is in a sky-blue steel skin and walls of glass, this home disappears into the landscape, which is just how Rodrigo likes it. ‘We wanted it to help us disconnect from city life and allow the children to be deeply in touch with the natural world.’
It’s why the bedroom windows are curtainless, so they can feel immersed in their surroundings the moment they wake. ‘It is a unique feeling,’ he tells us with a smile. ‘Beautiful.’ ohtake.com.br
