Tomie Ohtake Residence

This home has a number of very unusual aspects. First, the lot itself is wider at the back than in the front. It is a home, of course, but it is also a studio. Besides this, sixteen years after the house was built, the adjacent lot was acquired and an extension was harmoniously added onto it (the dining room, an archive for paintings and engravings, a small work area, a compact apartment and an addition to the kitchen).

The project employs a solution frequently seen in Ruy’s project: a very concentrated construction in one block, with a single roof which makes the entire space flow from one ambience to the other, and by small, closed volumes (the bedrooms and sevice areas).

In 1971 the project was awarded the Carlos Millan Prize from the Brazilian Institute of Architects.