Bow House | Atelier Marko Brajovic

Ordered structures occur from the intrinsic nature of the constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat along with the principal directions of three-dimensional space in matter. Triangles and triangulation are the essences of the natural special organization of forces in dynamic equilibrium.

The tetrahedron (a pyramid shape with four sides, including the base), is the most stable and space-filling structure, in fact, nature’s basic simplest structural system. Buckminster Fuller explored widely the tetrahedron system as “the minimum system of the Universe, and it turned out to be, then, Omni-triangulated and we found that structures are always triangulated. A structure meant triangle and triangle meant structure, there were no other stable polygons. Therefore, the tetrahedron turned out to be the minimum structural system of the Universe.”

Casa Proa (Bow House in Portuguese) was designed by Atelier Marko Brajovic by a creative process inspired by triangular modulations on different scales and a treehouse typology. The 6x6x6 meters of equilateral triangular volume was installed at Praia do Rosa beach in Paraty (Brazil), located between a Mango tree, the traditional colonial house, and a major rock, on steep waterfront terrain.

The triangular geometry redundancy on the floor plan and section, as well on the tetrahedron roof system, promotes both structural and perceptive strategy. The architecture organizes a compact living space modulated in further sub-triangles and creates a visual pattern as much in the space and finishings.

The main sleeping room is in the center, behind it the kitchen and on side triangles the entrance and opposite a bathroom. The terrace is in the front opening as a bow to the sea and generous 1m wide branches are wrapping the two sides of the house.

The furniture was designed specifically for the house, the curtains are made out of local shrimp fishing nets and wall lamps developed from traditional bronze boat drains. The house, installed on extended pillars similar to a “branching system”, visually behaves like a tree and practically floats on the tropical plants’ landscape with access to a private beach.