triangular 'casa proa' treehouse floats among coastal brazilian canopy

marko brajovic’s treehouse in brazil

casa proa, or ‘bow house’ was designed by atelier marko brajovic to overlook the coastal forests of brazil. the treehouse is developed through a creative process inspired in triangular modulations at different scales. overall, the cabin‘s plan takes shape as an equilateral triangle and occupies a site nestled over praia do rosa beach in paraty, brazil. the repetitive geometry between the floor plan, section, and tetrahedron roof system, promotes both structural and perceptive strategy, while the timber architecture organizes a compact living space modulated in further sub-triangles to create a visual pattern in both the space and finishings.

images by rafael medeiros | @rafael_medeiros

nature’s simplest structure

atelier marko brajovic‘s casa proa takes shape as a tetrahedron volume, or a pyramid with four sides. the architect notes that this geometry lends the most stable and space-filling structure — nature’s basic simplest structural system. the design team recalls the work of buckminster fuller, and his explorations of the tetrahedron system as ‘the minimum system of the universe, and it turned out to be, then, omni-triangulated and we found that structures are always triangulated. structure meant triangle and triangle meant structure, there were no other stable polygons. therefore, the tetrahedron turned out to be the minimum structural system of the universe.’

floating among the tropical landscape

in organizing the interiors of casa proa, atelier marko brajovic celebrates its centralized plan. the main sleeping room occupies the center with a kitchen behind it flanked by the entrance and bathroom. the front-facing terrace opens outward ‘as a bow to the sea.’ the furniture was designed specifically for the house, with curtains are made from local shrimp fishing nets and wall lamps fabricated from traditional bronze boat drains. perched atop projecting pillars similar to a ‘branching system,’ the house visually behaves like a tree and seems to float among the tropical landscape.