Articles by Susanna Moreira

Nestled between the sea and the hinterland, Pernambuco’s Zona da Mata region is characterized by a humid tropical climate and the dense vegetation of the Atlantic Forest. Built upon this fertile soil, the architecture emerges from a poetic contrast, rejecting formulas and asserting that the Northeast reveals new nuances—without boundaries, limits, or constraints. This linguistic diversity resonates with inventiveness and respect for tradition, a dialectic that defies predictability but establishes new paradigms.

Set in a wooded area, Casa MKN was designed with the premise of preserving the existing large trees, guiding the layout and configuration of the volumes so that the architecture respects the original landscaping of the lot. The project is based on the principle of maximizing the preservation of vegetation and establishing a direct relationship between the construction and nature. As a result, the house is structured in two main levels and a rooftop, distributed in a horizontal volume characterized by straight lines, continuous planes, and wide eaves that reinforce the contemporary reading of the residence.

Buildings associated with death, conceived or inspired by funerary rituals and practices, have given rise throughout history to some of architecture’s most significant achievements. The desire to preserve memory has always inspired the design of funerary spaces that explore territories of ambiguity: between earth and sky; light and matter; the telluric and the ethereal; the present and the timeless. In their materials, textures, scales, and forms, these buildings resist the passage of time and assert themselves as timeless constructions.

The Palácio de Tavira project reimagines a historic landmark through a careful balance between architectural memory and contemporary expression.

WaCa Design’s Rocha Floridas Guest House core concept relies on pragmatic constructivism and pure spatial geometry—adding and subtracting volumes from a central two-story cube. Located on Brazil’s southern coast facing Calheiros Beach, the project is one of the four buildings in the Rocha Floridas compound, committing to sustainability by prioritizing Low Embodied Carbon (LEC) materials.

The relationship with the existing landscape and the uneven topography were the main determinants in the design of Casa Tamanás. Situated on a sloped lot with several existing fruit trees, the fundamental strategy of the project consisted of operating through precise cuts in the built volume. More than simple openings, these interventions function as frames that enhance the view of the landscape, framing scenes that vary between the tree canopies and the gardens at ground level, establishing a visual continuity that integrates the architecture with its immediate surroundings.

Located in an urban mixed-use lot, Casa Caetés is situated on a quiet street that balances residential and commercial use. The design was created for a large family with a “tentacular” configuration—a couple and five children—whose expanded connections demand a complex and interconnected spatial structure.