- Project: White Bricks House
- Architect: BLOCO Arquitetos
- Location: Brazil, Lago Sul region, Brasília
- Year: 2023
- Area: 600 m2
- Photography: Joana França
Architectural Expression: White as Form and Function
The White Bricks House by BLOCO Arquitetos elevates a single-storey residence into a material and spatial statement. Located in the Lago Sul region of Brasília, the project is anchored by a striking white-painted solid-brick envelope that serves as both façade and screen, filtering light, controlling privacy and setting a tone of refinement. The architects designed this “second skin” not simply for aesthetic effect, but as a response to climate, tradition and craft.
By distributing the house’s program around the perimeter of its plot, BLOCO created a generously green central courtyard that becomes the heart of the home. The main living rooms, bedrooms, kitchen and even garage all face inward, oriented toward this garden-pool space. The white brick mesh façade reveals and conceals as needed: variable spacing between bricks modulates visibility and ventilation, creating a tactile and dynamic building skin.
Spatial Strategy & Environmental Intelligence
The design cleverly harnesses Brasília’s architectural heritage—particularly the “cobogó” (breezeblock) typology—for modern living. The white brick screen recalls these perforated blocks, allowing shading, airflow and visual complexity while maintaining privacy at scale. The house’s L-shaped plan opens toward the lush courtyard and pool, while presenting a more closed civic face to the street.
Light is sculpted through the spaces: the brick screen softens direct sun, the inner glazed wall opens onto the landscape, and the architecture creates a layering of protection, openness and connection. This layered condition gives the building a calm presence within its context and a refined tranquil spatial experience inside.
Materiality & Craft: Precision in Execution
BLOCO Arquitetos chose materials and construction methods that emphasise craftsmanship, precision and clarity. The use of exposed solid brick in a white finish is unusual in Brasília’s residential context, requiring a slow, careful masonry process. The result is a visual rhythm and texture that is tactile, authentic and of high calibre.
Beyond the brick screen, the house incorporates generous glazing, flat roof overhangs, dark metal roofing on internal volumes, and a finely resolved landscaping palette. Together these elements form a coherent material language: white brick, glass, metal, green-space. Nothing is decorative for its own sake; every part serves structure, climate, light or sequence.
Livability & Landscape Integration
Inside the White Bricks House, architecture and garden fuse seamlessly. Living areas slide open to the pool and lawn. Circulation flows around the central green space, making the courtyard feel like an outdoor room rather than a leftover. Bedrooms and private zones likewise engage the garden, giving each occupant a quiet vista and sense of retreat.
The spatial logic supports family life and leisure. The L-plan wraps the garden and pool to ensure sun, shade, lawn and water become everyday experiences. The screen façade provides filtered light and visual comfort, while the generous plan enables formal and informal living to coexist.
Why This Project Resonates
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Material articulation as identity: The white brick screen acts not merely as façade but as symbolic and functional skin—giving the house presence without ostentation.
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Climate-aware architecture: The use of screen masonry, courtyard orientation and shading demonstrates environmental intelligence and comfort without resorting to heavy mechanical systems.
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Landscape-driven plan: By prioritising inward orientation to garden and pool, the project creates a private sanctuary within an urban context while maintaining openness and fluidity.
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Craft and refinement in residential scale: At ~600 m² the house maintains clarity, restraint and elegance—balancing large scale with quiet detailing.
The White Bricks House stands out in contemporary Brazilian residential architecture as a project that blends tradition, innovation, materiality and landscape in a single gesture.
