AA Architecture & Building
Tel: 22 26234800 / 22 92170384 / 21 96782179
Arq. Helena Maria Oestreich
PRESS REPORT
Ecology through the front door
|
Numerology ordered two Ls on the windows. The architect-owner accepted: she decided to call her inn Janellas do Mar Windows on the Sea. Ecology had made her conscious and she wanted to build a place in full harmony with nature. And, once again, the right meet was found. Between numerology and ecology the inn Windows on the Sea was born, in Búzios.
The key word is, of course, ecology. Architect Helen Oestreich a native of Rio Grande do Sul- bought the 2,000 square meter plot of land, not far from Praias dos Ossos the Beach of the Bones- João Fernandes and Armação, and she made herself a promise: to build the inn a minimum of trees should be felled, as few as possible. Said and done: the original vegetation is still there, practically untouched. Wonderful!
Respect for nature can also come through the front door. The rooms, sitting rooms, the kitchen and other spaces are naturally ecological. The furniture is made of wood recovered from demolitions, the hangers, the walls, painted with traditionally-crafted dyes. The team from Escala Magazine visited the premises and invites you, in this artcle, to take a look through the "window" with us.
|
|
 |
The origin of it all not a trendy fad, but more than twenty years of a true "professional relationship with nature". Helena explains: "I worked for a power company in Furnas for 22 years, as an architect focused on environmental issues".
The building of the inn started in early 2001. The opening took place in November of the following year. It took 21 months to build the two blocks one with five suites and the other with six. "I have an apartment in Rio, but I spend most of my time in Búzios. With the inn, I was finally able to put into effect what I had been talking about in IAB (Association of Brazilian Architects) during my whole life", says the architect.
Green differences - When it came to building, what could be missing in an inn supposed to be "in tune" with the environment? Most things were there and could be seen, appreciated and, in some cases, experienced. "Fellow architects always ask questions about the use of solar energy, and I tell them that I am satisfied. I installed sun collectors for all the bathrooms and that accounts for a considerable reduction in the use of electric power. Therefore, there will be less pollution on the planet", comments Helena.
Another item that calls on your attention: all the windows are parts recovered from demolitions. It's the theory of recycling put into practice. And all of them carry beautiful marks of time on the wood.
And speaking of wood, all the parapets, verandas and handrails are made of wood from reforesting.
Old demolition iron is used in the floors. Let nobody be surprised, because they show up in every other room. They help produce geometrical drawings, together with the bricks used. The most frequent material seen on the floor, however, is oil-stained cement, which may or may not have been colored with marble powder or white cement. Besides -don't fail to notice it- the colours chosen are vibrant and impart a cheerful and enthusiastic feeling to the spaces where they are used.
What may almost go unnoticed is the "ecological paint" used on every single wall, with the exception of those painted white (which reflect off the heat). Instead of industrialized dyes, the architect chose naturally-crafted dyes. She explains their composition: "Cement, glue, lime, water and pigments. The result is a natural dye, which allows the walls to breathe".
Furniture and pieces recovered from demolitions are featured in the decoration. It is hard to walk past the lamps and chandeliers made with demolition materials without stopping at length to admire them. In the room, the hangers made of bamboo provide a peculiar accent, different from what is usual.
Concerning the building process, Helena does confess she had some difficulty to get everything done her way, but in the end, everything turned out right. "The workers were used to the traditional building process and to the usual materials. When you stray away from that, you have to spend time explaining time and again what you want. You have to keep a close eye", she says intently.
Among those who have already enjoyed the inn, Helena says that foreigners pay more attention to and appreciate more the differences in the inn. About national architecture and urbanism, she thinks that there is still a long way to go on the road of environmental sustainability. "Our buildings are still ecologically incorrect", she maintains.
|
