Cabana Urbana, a vibrant weekend retreat in São Paulo | Fábio Galeazzo

Designer Fábio Galeazzo transformed a run-down 1930s house into an extraordinary vacation home. The clients, both of whom are also designers, wanted a weekend retreat within the busy metropolis of São Paulo, Brazil.

To start with, the old house needed structural reinforcement. Rather than specifying conventional materials, Galeazzo used columns and beams of bamboo to support the roof. To balance the boxiness of the structure, he added curved and circular elements to the house and the landscaping. One particularly striking example is the round window surrounded by a circular bookshelf that frames views of the lush greenery. Wanting the retreat to pop out from its surroundings, he turned the façade into a canvas for a geometric patchwork of bold colors.

The house has 914 ft² (84.9 m²) configured as a single room with the exception of a glass-walled bathroom. Appropriately for a vacation home in a subtropical climate, it is surrounded by several outdoor living spaces. There is a large deck along the back, a shaded yard at one side and a sunny flagstone patio at the other, complete with a barbecue station covered in colorful tile.

The kitchen, designed by Galeazzo, is a unique feature. The cabinet units can swivel around one end, allowing them to be rotated from the inside living area out to the patio. At the other end of the house is a hanging Nestrest lounger, which the owners apparently use for sleeping as there isn’t any other bed in sight.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Click a thumbnail to view a larger photo, then click on the photo to advance to the next one.

Photographs by Marco Antùnio, courtesy of Fábio Galeazzo. Via Contemporist.

Text copyright 2014 SmallHouseBliss. All Rights Reserved.