- Project: Linhares Dias House
- Architect: BLOCO Arquitetos
- Location: Brazil, Brasília
- Year: 2013
- Area: 411 m2
- Photography: Joana Franca
Architecture That Embraces Its Site with Calm Clarity
Situated on a residential lot near Lago Paranoá in Brasília’s Lago Sul district, the Linhares Dias House by BLOCO Arquitetos is a refined example of how modern domestic architecture can reconcile openness, structure and place. At 411 m², the house demonstrates how large-scale living need not resort to excess — instead, it employs elegant proportion, material subtlety and a clear spatial logic.
From the street the house presents a measured presence, but the moment you move inside the covered “portico” roof and into the double-height social volume, the architecture opens out to garden, sky and landscape. The wide roof slab that unites much of the plan sits above side walls that wrap the internal space and project outward. This roof, together with the lateral walls, forms a protective canopy that shades interiors and frames the larger geometry of the house.
Spatial Strategy & Material Dialogue
The layout is structured around a large open social zone under the main roof, with private programmes set above or around this central space. Bedrooms and private areas occupy the upper level, accessed via a staircase prominent in the main façade, projecting through the roof plane and forming a sculptural element.
The interior opens to a series of voids and outdoor courts, alternating solids and emptiness, giving depth to the massing and allowing daylight, cross-ventilation and visual relief. The roof’s underside is lined with natural wood, visible from much of the house, giving a warm texture against the white surfaces of walls and structure.
Materially the house balances the cool neutrality of bright white walls with the richness of the wood ceilings, the rhythm of structural posts, and framed views of external greenery. Where many large residences might flaunt luxury, this house opts for restraint and coherence.
Living & Landscape — Inside and Out, Seamless
One of the key achievements here is how the landscape becomes part of the architecture. The social area opens to the garden and pool zone, while the roof canopy and portico extend the living space outward. The home’s orientation and open plan invite the outdoors in — yet maintain comfort and privacy.
Light appears to animate the spaces: the double-height volume draws the eye upward, the corridor above floats over the living room, and the open modules connect levels, views, and experience. It is architecture experienced through motion, reflection and relation to its setting rather than grand gesture.
Why the Linhares Dias House Is Important
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It demonstrates powerful architecture through clarity rather than flamboyance: a large house that feels composed, calm and grounded.
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The integration of roof, wall and void elevates the house from mere “villa” to a refined spatial manifesto.
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The material palette—white surfaces, natural wood ceilings, large glass expanses—keeps the focus on light, proportion and experience rather than decoration.
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It reinforces Brazilian modernist threads (courts, structural rhythm, dialogue with landscape) updated for contemporary living.
In a context where large houses can drift into visual excess, the Linhares Dias House stands out for how well it balances scale, restraint and living quality. It is a home of presence not show, and architecture that serves life rather than demands attention.
