Model: Lina Bo Bardi's Glass House

Lina Bo Bardi’s Glass House in São Paulo embodies both traditional and contemporary modernist influences. The front of the house features a glass prism which floats on thin steel pilotis. The ground below this prism slopes upward, culminating in a hill which holds the traditionally styled back half of the residence. This condition inherently creates hierarchy, prioritizing the modernist approach and leaving the traditional construction, occupied by housekeepers, largely unseen.

The model was a study on the materiality of the existing structure with the intention of later translating the building into mass timber.

The base of the model is CNC milled particle board and features the topographic incline that leads to the back of the house. The roof and floor are 3D printed with PLA and they represent the modernist cast-in-place concrete elements of the house. The back half of the house is fabricated by hand cut wood and is painted gray to represent the traditional program and masonry that was typical in Brazil at the time. Transparent acrylic rods are added to represent the ultra-thin steel piloti of the existing building.