By integrating the balcony into the living area, the renovation exposed two structural columns that had until then remained hidden within the enclosure. Architect Wittmann chose not to neutralise them, but to clad them in slatted concrete — ripas in Portuguese — turning them into the project’s spatial point of reference. From that gesture, the entire floor plan reorganised itself around them.

A social space organised in layers

The main living area is resolved around an island sofa with reversible backrests as its central piece, oriented toward the tree canopy views of the Jardins neighbourhood. The perimeter wall, clad in American oak from floor to ceiling, integrates doors and openings without interrupting the plane, unifying the reading of the perimeter. Hanging on it is a large-format work by Ronald Lago — organic forms in green, terracotta and beige — that enters into dialogue with the material palette of the whole.

The transition between the main sitting room and the television lounge is managed by a painted oxide-red steel plate shelving unit, which divides from the logic of the membrane. In this space, a modular sofa in pale grey and a travertine stone coffee table occupy one side; on the other, the Tonico armchair by Sérgio Rodrigues in cognac leather and the shelving volume holding the owners’ books, ceramics and artworks.

At the opposite end, beside the second column, a glazed wine cabinet visually defines the threshold into the music area, where a Yamaha grand piano and a hung electric guitar occupy the space with discretion. For the owners, music is a private practice, and the architecture made room for it with the same naturalness as the books or the ceramic pieces.

The dining room and kitchen, open to the outside

The formal dining room opens onto the glazed facade with city views. A circular wooden table with a cylindrical base and oak armchairs organise the space with restraint. The lamp of black rods suspended in a cross formation brings an active geometry to the ceiling that accompanies the scale of the room and marks its gathering point.

The gourmet kitchen, in continuity with the informal dining area, combines the dark stone island with a light wood side table and camel leather chairs. A ceiling-hung planter introduces a vegetal presence into the work area and connects the interior visually with the terraces. The service kitchen, resolved with lacquered fronts and a continuous grey stone worktop, maintains the material coherence of the whole.

The bedrooms, each at its own scale

The master bedroom organises a space of quiet. The moss-green fabric headboard spans the full width of the wall and sets the chromatic tone of the room. Translucent white linen curtains filter the lateral light. Floating oak bedside tables and a wooden bench at the foot of the bed complete a room in which the materials follow the same design logic as the rest of the house.

The children’s bedrooms were designed around autonomy: low beds, accessible shelving and study areas integrated into the furniture define spaces that grow with their occupants. The playroom, with a storage bench-sofa in wood and mixed upholstery, is designed for open and intensive use. The children’s bathrooms feature handcrafted hexagonal tiles in colours chosen by each child.

Throughout the project, concrete, American oak and solid hardwood build a palette that holds its coherence from beginning to end. The slatted concrete columns remain visible in every space and recall the origin of each decision. What at first appeared as a structural constraint became a name, a rhythm and the identity of the whole.

Project: Apartamento Ripas.
Location: Jardim Paulista, São Paulo, Brasil.
Area: 320 m².
Completed: 2025.
Architecture and interiors: RAWI Arquitetura
Architect: Raphael Wittmann.
Team: Giovanna Araújo, Mayara Yamaya, Ulisses Hubner, Wilmar Junior.
Construction: Zabo Engenharia.
Photography: Rafael Renzo.
Source: RAWI Arquitetura.

Raphael Wittmann

Raphael Wittmann trained as an architect at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo, where his final degree project centred on the Casa da Música — a choice that already pointed toward an architecture understood as sensory experience rather than image. After graduating in 2009, he extended his training with a postgraduate degree in business administration at FIA-USP, adding a strategic and managerial dimension that today also shapes the way he runs his practice.

His early professional years took him to the Museu da Casa Brasileira in São Paulo, where he coordinated the education team, to Chile for a collaborative architecture book project, and to the curatorial committee of the VI Ibero-American Architecture Biennial — experiences that built a broad perspective, equally attentive to the project and to its cultural and disciplinary context.

In 2013 he founded RAWI Arquitetura + Design in the Jardim Paulistano neighbourhood of São Paulo, where the studio has been based ever since. His practice is rooted in the tradition of São Paulo architectural thought and in the city’s brutalist legacy: an architecture in which the plastic force of structural volumes and the honest expression of materials organise space and produce that play of light and shadow that gives it character and density.

Over more than a decade, RAWI has developed over eighty residential and commercial projects across São Paulo and other Brazilian states, working at different scales — from new-build architecture to interior projects, from furniture design to broader territorial interventions. Concrete, steel, brick, stone, timber and glass are the studio’s habitual materials, handled with directness and without artifice.

Sustainability is part of the design process from the outset: material selection, waste management, photovoltaic energy, rainwater harvesting and natural ventilation are variables the studio integrates as part of a considered position on the relationship between architecture and its environment.

Wittmann understands form as the outcome of a process of listening, reflection and drawing. An architecture that takes shape through use, asserts itself in matter, and endures over time.

Conceived for a young resident seeking a sophisticated, functional home connected to national design culture, the apartment unfolds a spatial narrative in which every decision responds both to everyday life and to emotional resonance. Interior architecture acts here as a silent framework that supports daily routines, allowing materials, light, and carefully selected pieces to define the character of the whole.

The warmth of tauari wood

Tauari wood, a species native to South America, clads walls and fixed elements, providing constant warmth and a gentle texture that dialogues with the neutrality of the overall palette. Its presence establishes a subtle connection with nature and serves as a counterpoint to the precision of marble, the protagonist of one of the project’s most distinctive gestures: the sculptural bar that anchors the social area. More than a functional element, this piece becomes a meeting point and an almost artistic object, where elegance and comfort coexist.

Custom joinery and muxarabi panels reinterpret, through a contemporary lens, a traditional resource of Arabic origin deeply rooted in Brazilian architecture. These latticed elements not only introduce rhythm and visual depth, but also organize spaces, filter light, and guide circulation without fragmenting the interior.

Brazilian design

The dining area is conceived as a small manifesto of Brazilian design. Above the table, Bossa pendant lights by Fernando Prado provide soft yet precise illumination. Around it, the Oscar and Lucio chairs by Sergio Rodrigues bring a sense of timeless elegance, while the Dinamarquesa armchair by Jorge Zalszupin, placed in the living area, adds a layer of memory and sophistication. Their organic forms and refined presence reinforce the constant dialogue between modernity, tradition, and affection that runs throughout the project.

The integration of living room, dining area, and kitchen reflects a desire to encourage togetherness and enhance spatial openness. Neutral tones, earthy nuances, and carefully studied lighting shape a balanced, intimate, and welcoming atmosphere. Bespoke furniture optimizes every corner, adapting seamlessly to an urban lifestyle that is dynamic and attentive to detail.

The IFLD Apartment thus reveals itself as a precise and thoughtful home, where intelligent solutions meet a restrained and deeply human aesthetic. A space that expresses both the personality of its inhabitants and the pulse of the city, subtly perceived through the linen curtains.

Project: Apartamento IFLD.
Location: Vila Olímpia, São Paulo.
Area: 190 m².
Completed: 2024.

Interior Architecture: Marcela Penteado.
Photography: Fran Parente.
Source: Cobogó. Fabiola Pretel.

Marcela Penteado

Trained as an architect and urban planner at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) and with further studies at the Parsons School of Design in New York, Marcela Penteado belongs to a generation of Brazilian architects who understand the project as an act of listening, sensitivity, and precision. Before founding her own studio in 2022, she built a solid professional trajectory collaborating with David Bastos and as a partner at the studio Triart for five years, a decisive period in the consolidation of her architectural vision.

Since its creation, Marcela Penteado Arquitectos has developed around the idea of simplicity as an essential value, never devoid of depth or beauty. The studio conceives each project as a singular story, a narrative that unfolds in a serene and honest way, where details—far from being mere ornament—become carriers of meaning.

Marcela’s practice is grounded in attentive and respectful listening, capable of capturing the identity of those who will inhabit the spaces she designs. Her architecture values the quiet strength of carefully chosen materials, balanced proportions, accompanying light, and the emotion that emerges without the need for grand gestures. In her work, design is perceived before it is seen; it is felt as an atmosphere, as a latent memory.

Each project is understood as a precise curation in which emotion, memory, and technique coexist in balance. Vintage and contemporary elements engage in a natural dialogue, crossing times and references to give rise to deeply personal spaces. From the first sketch to the final execution, the studio cares for every decision with artisanal rigor, seeking to reveal the essence of each client through coherent, sensitive, and enduring living environments.

Between memory, the present, and what is yet to come, Marcela Penteado Arquitectos builds a serene and purposeful architecture, conceived to endure beyond trends and to accompany everyday life with discretion and beauty.

From the entrance, a deep green tone marks the route and establishes an initial gesture of orientation. The terrazzo flooring, in chromatic continuity, accompanies the movement towards the staircase and sets the transition between arrival and domestic life. On one side, a perforated panel clad in freijó wood brings together the functions of the entrance: hanging, placing, storing. On the other, a shoe cabinet invites a pause. This same panel rises and becomes a perforated ceiling, integrating lighting and signalling the circulation axis. It is a piece that articulates space, use and technique.

The incorporation of the former terrace into the interior expands the perception of the whole. The double height and large window introduce the presence of tree canopies and turn the façade into a lived-in balcony, with benches and planters that blur the boundary between inside and outside. Natural light dominates the scene; artificial lighting, through tracks and small suspended luminaires, accompanies it when necessary.

At the centre of the space, a table designed specifically for the apartment organises daily life. Its wooden structure incorporates a mobile stainless-steel module that unfolds when cooking or gathering requires additional surface area. The kitchen, conceived almost as a workshop, combines white fronts with exposed wooden edges and continuous steel shelving that keeps everything within reach, without unnecessary hidden objects.

The flooring reinforces the reading of the space: a cement “rug” defines the dining and living areas, while terrazzo identifies the kitchen zone. The material hierarchy — white for the technical elements, natural wood for the social areas, green for circulation and access — allows the whole to be understood without resorting to partitions.

The custom-designed joinery is fully integrated into the project. Modular shelving, mobile furniture and hybrid pieces assume multiple functions and allow the space to adapt to different situations of use. Nothing is superfluous; every element responds to a measured logic.

On the upper floor, the change in materiality accompanies a change in rhythm. Solid amendoim wood flooring and a terracotta-toned plane configure an environment intended for retreat and rest. A lattice replaces the former partition wall, separating without blocking light or visual continuity. The path towards the bedroom is accompanied by a lightweight shelving system with tension rods, holding books, objects and plants, and a curved mirror in the transitional space.

In the bedroom, the pace slows down. The solid wood floor guarantees continuity; the lighting is versatile, both functional and scenographic. A simple freijó wood headboard fixed to the wall frees the floor. The main wardrobe shifts towards the void of the double height, releasing space for the bed and providing a sense of spaciousness, while presenting itself externally in an unusual, floating manner. Cotton curtains filter the natural light and soften the atmosphere.

The architects seek coherence in every solution: walls that yield to use, materials that orient, and furniture designed as extensions of space. In this small duplex, Studio Papaya demonstrates how a meticulously designed architecture can build a comfortable way of living, where every space is used to its fullest, with intelligent solutions conceived to facilitate everyday life.

Project: SBC Apartamento.
Location: São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Area: 50 m².
Completed: 2025.
Interior Architecture: Studio Papaya.
Team: Delia Sloneanu, Samuel Garcia, Beatriz Justo y Eduarda Savian.
Execution and Management: Maroa Arquitetura y Studio Papaya.
Carpentry and Metalwork: Traccia Mobili.
Furniture: Labmobili.
Photography: Arthur Duarte.
Source: Studio Papaya.

Studio Papaya

Founded in 2016 and based in São Paulo, Studio Papaya operates as an architecture and design practice that understands the project as a territory of continuous investigation. Led by architects Samuel Garcia and Delia Sloneanu, the studio emerges from the intersection of academic and professional trajectories developed across diverse cultural contexts, and from a shared view of architecture as a process that extends beyond built form.

Its work is grounded in a careful reading of the physical, historical, social, and cultural contexts in which it operates. For Studio Papaya, designing involves organizing, deciding, and managing; understanding each commission as a complex structure of constraints and possibilities in which design acts as a mediator. This approach allows the studio to operate across different scales and programs while maintaining methodological coherence rooted in technical rigor and sensitivity to the surrounding environment.

Projects seek a precise balance between the whole and its parts, between the built and the natural, between technical demands and spatial experience. Limits are not understood as obstacles, but as constitutive elements of the process, capable of activating specific responses. In this sense, non-linear paths, unbuilt studies, and open-ended investigations form an essential part of the studio’s practice, expanding the field of the project beyond the final outcome.

The studio works with a multidisciplinary team that enables it to address architecture, interiors, and design through an integrated approach. Through drawing, research, and careful execution, Studio Papaya develops spaces, objects, and identities that aspire to transcend immediate functional responses and to establish a lasting relationship with the territories and the people they serve.

Delia Sloneanu and Samuel Garcia

Delia Sloneanu is an architect graduated from UAUIM in Bucharest, with academic training at ENSA Toulouse and professional experience in Romania, France, and Tunisia. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Contemporary Architecture at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, where she deepens a critical reflection on contemporary architectural practice.

Samuel Garcia is an architect graduated from UNESP in Bauru and holds a postgraduate degree in Geography, City, and Architecture from Escola da Cidade. His professional experience has developed within practices of different scales in Brazil and abroad, contributing to a broad understanding of architectural practice and its multiple conditions.

From this dialogue between educations, geographies, and ways of thinking, both architects lead Studio Papaya as a space of synthesis and experimentation, where the project is understood as a conscious tool for transformation, always situated and attentive to its context.

The project responds to a broad programme that demanded spatial generosity, a direct relationship with the outdoors and a clear differentiation of uses, without renouncing cross ventilation or the controlled entry of natural light. The house is organised through a classical layout reinterpreted with contemporary precision: a social block and a private block, separated by a central circulation axis that begins at the entrance. This gesture orders the plan and establishes a clear spatial distribution. At the entrance, a wooden pergola marks the route and acts as a threshold, a transitional element between exterior and interior.

To the right of the access lies the social volume, with a quadrangular plan, while the private block develops longitudinally, occupying a larger portion of the house. This duality is also expressed in the pitched roof, a deliberate reference to traditional domestic typologies, fragmented by a central opening that enhances natural light and ventilation and visually disrupts the archetypal image of the closed, compact single-family house.

Both volumes open directly onto the outdoor space, where the swimming pool and garden form the true centre of domestic life. The private area includes the bedrooms and service spaces and is characterised by a sequence of recessed, stepped volumes that ensure privacy for each room while adding dynamism to an essentially rectangular plan. Both the private rooms and the social spaces open towards the central garden, reinforcing continuity between interior and exterior.

The main suite occupies a privileged position within the ensemble. It features a private terrace at the rear of the plot and a strategically placed window on the side façade, establishing a direct visual relationship with the outdoor area, conceived here as a generous space for contemplation.

The structure of the house is resolved in concrete, while the finishes rely on a balanced combination of stone and wood. Stone plays a leading role, used both in its most natural state and in treated forms, extending across floors, walls and work surfaces. Wood, present in joinery, built-in furniture, wall finishes and loose pieces, introduces warmth and continuity, complemented by a careful selection of textiles and lighting that enhances comfort without unnecessary prominence.

The outdoor landscape

The project is completed by a landscape design that acts as an active element in the perception of the volume and in the environmental quality of the house. The main challenge of the process—integrating an extensive programme without sacrificing spaciousness, outdoor areas or environmental performance—is resolved through an architecture that prioritises clarity, a close relationship with the immediate surroundings and coherence between form, use and materiality. Casa VLP is thus constructed through the accumulation of precise decisions rather than emphatic gestures, finding its greatest strength in this sense of restraint.

Project: Casa VLP.
Location: São Paulo (Brasil).
Completion: 2023.
Architecture and Interior Design:: Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos.
Landscape design: André Paoliello.
Photography: Fran Parente.
Construction: Laer.
Production: Tiago Cappi.
Source: Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos.

Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos

Founded in São Paulo in 2010 by Domingos Pascali and Sarkis Semerdjian, Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos emerged from an affinity that predates professional practice: a shared way of understanding the craft, the value of making, and the responsibility involved in designing spaces meant to be lived in. From the outset, the studio has developed an architecture attentive to context, process and material, where each decision responds to a sensitivity shaped over time.

Their work spans residential architecture, interior design and furniture design, following an approach that avoids superfluous gestures and relies on the coherence of the whole. The relationship with materials—particularly wood, concrete and natural light—is structural rather than decorative: it defines the character of the spaces and conditions their use. References to Brazilian modernism coexist with a contemporary reading of domestic life, integrating tradition and the present in a natural, unforced way.

Pascali Semerdjian’s architecture is recognised for its continuous spatial narrative, its conscious economy of means and a materiality that ages with dignity. Their projects are defined by use, scale and the relationship they establish with those who inhabit them.

Domingos Pascali

Educated at Universidade Brás Cubas, Domingos Pascali brings more than three decades of experience in architecture, design and construction. His career is deeply rooted in the world of craftsmanship—an environment where attention to detail, respect for material and the value of manual work shaped his understanding of architecture from an early age.

Before founding the studio, he worked at several architectural practices in São Paulo, contributing to residential, commercial and interior design projects. This experience consolidated a practice grounded in formal clarity and a direct engagement with materials. In his work, architecture emerges from close observation of place and people, giving form to spaces that respond to real needs and settle naturally within their surroundings.

Sarkis Semerdjian

A graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie, Sarkis Semerdjian brings to the studio a contemporary perspective, attentive both to project rigor and to the narrative dimension of space. Coming from a family background also connected to craftsmanship, he developed early on a particular sensitivity to form, texture and proportion.

Before partnering with Pascali, he collaborated with several architecture studios in Brazil, experiences that broadened his understanding of architectural processes and strengthened his project criteria. His work explores the balance between functionality and expressiveness, addressing the complexity of contemporary living through solutions that are sober, carefully considered and deeply human.