Hayao Miyazaki’s animated world, doused in intricate details and vibrant shades, is at once reminiscent of old Japanese watercolour paintings, and evocative of an overly dramatised picture of the spirited past. Despite being set in contexts that are distinctly Japanese, Studio Ghibli films manage to universally kindle the most quiescently disguised emotions of anemoia and yearning, with frames that attest to a calmer life, near nature. The themes of love, friendship and a general reverence for relationships and family manage to counter and overpower struggles writ by war as well as those brought on by supernatural forces, urging, hence, an ache for a collectivist culture in a largely libertarian world. In addition to this, the contextualisation of modern habitats in a modest yet whimsical guise, in the midst of natural terrain, further stimulates, inspires and impels viewers towards aspirations festooned with a simple, sustainable, convenient life in the midst of nature.

Studio Ghibli’s themes of environmentalism, love, friendship, family, and communal resilience in the face of struggles, have managed to influence and inspire a global audience. From artworks and specially curated events to interior design and architecture, the impact of these Japanese animations can be witnessed far and wide. Tallying with such aspirations, Nuevo Arquitetura, an architectural studio based in Brasília, in Brazil, designed Casa Ghibli, a private residence that references the fantastical universe of Studio Ghibli. These Brazilian architects, who refer to themselves as a ‘vernacular-digital architectural practice,’ were urged on by their clients to build a simple, Studio Ghibli-inspired residential building cradled in a verdant scape.

Located on the outskirts of Plano Piloto of Brasilia, Casa Ghibli lies on a site, the vicinity of which is scantily dotted with constructions. The structure was installed on the site without changing the original configuration of the land. The concrete pile foundation, anchored in the firm soil at a depth of 5 to 6 metres, extends to form the concrete pillars that uphold the suspended floor slab of the structure, at heights ranging from 0.40 to 1.30 metres from the ground, depending on the slope of the land.

The lush green locale and the red insertions throughout the contemporary residence serve as a vibrant vernissage to the building, alluding to the vibrancy that pervades Ghibli animes. The organically shaped driveway, the simple linear form of the residence, the stilts, the comfortably angled ramp and the double-pitched roof further deepen the building’s allusion to the aforementioned entity.

The designers of the structure, namely Thales Barnuevo and Mariana Mariano, swear by an environmentally adaptive method of building. Although constructed using mainly industrial materials that are seldom viewed as prime examples of sustainable substances, Nuevo Arquitetura’s usage of concrete, steel, wood and glass is persuasive with the provision of dismantling and reassembling the entire structure for re-usage elsewhere. Nuevo Arquitetura also ensured the usage of the smallest possible amount and number of materials. Since the different parts, which are screwed together, can be dismantled with ease, it is also feasible for each portion to be replaced and recycled conveniently. The modular construction system allowed for the construction to be completed in a short period of time. The concrete stilts supporting the elevated residence, can, on the other hand, be crushed and reused as the aggregate for a new concrete structure.

Casa Ghibli is located in an area that witnesses high levels of humidity, nearing 70 to 80 per cent during rainy seasons, and less than 20 per cent during the drier months. The recurrent openable fenestrations on the elevated residence’s facade, paired with the double-height central space within the building facilitate passive environmental conditioning. The opening at the top of the roof serves as a ventilator, enabling adequate air circulation. The seven entrances to the house, along with a number of windows, enhance the structure’s permeability and facilitate ample ventilation, while also permitting a healthy influx of natural light in the interiors. The double-pitched roof shades the interiors from direct sunlight, and roof kinks projecting outward at the extremes, on the northern facade enable the protection of the rooms against heat gains during afternoons.

Nuevo Arquitetura cites Casa Ghibli as a project that marked a turning point in their way of thinking and designing. It is a project through which the studio moved towards the employment of a methodology that the architects refer to as ‘Nature of Architecture.’ Previously called Membrana, the architects reorganised both, their methods and their name, in tandem with a revised thought. The word, nuevo, too, translates to ‘new’ in Spanish, hinting at the Brazilian studio’s new way of thinking. “This turning point came to us at the moment the world was facing the pandemic, with its terrifying situation. This also defines our struggle against a government that incentivises the destruction of the Amazonia and the Brazilian culture, the facilitation of scientific negationism, and paying no heed to global urgencies such as global warming, wars, increased poverty, social emptiness, etc. As an architecture office, to make sense of our work, we could not ignore this. Hence, we are trying to investigate a way to respond to this,” shares Barnuevo.

Nuevo Arquitetura’s methodology of ‘Nature of Architecture’ was born from the desire to build structures that imbue a deep meaning, while also serving a concrete environmental purpose. The studio intends to deliver simple and assertive solutions, just like the provisions of nature. The architects aim to deliver projects that employ the usage of renewable energy, are energy efficient and ensure a sustainable and low-cost operational lifecycle. Citing their influence in nature, Barnuevo shares, “In nature, the reciprocal influences of living beings with physical and biotic factors of the environment in which they live, determine their survival and ensure their evolutionary process. We start from the principle that adaptation to the environment is the biggest force in the nature of architecture. When we say that Casa Ghibli is a gesture towards a vernacular future, we are referring to re-establishing functional cooperation between architecture and the environment. The identity and form will be a direct consequence of this gesture.”

Within the residence, two service modules are positioned on the extremities of the longitudinally extended structure, with a central double-height living space uniting the two ends. Positioning the service modules on either end not only protects the interior spaces from direct sunlight but also eases the process of designing and maintaining them. The toilets, too, are placed under the side gables, which allows their agile maintenance from the external area of the house, through the wall shafts. Another design intervention that eases the maintenance of services is the suspension of the house. While the house was primarily suspended in order to counter infiltration issues in the area and optimise thermal efficiency, the suspended structure allows for electrical, plumbing and sewage installations to be accommodated in the pit excavated under and along the platform that supports the residence. The double-pitched roof is installed with a technical platform that provides access to technical support for the photovoltaic modules.

Platformed on stilts, the elevated residence, whose facade is perforated with openings, is also decorated with a barrage of details, unlike typical building frontages. Much like the frames of a Ghibli film, that are entrenched with the inclusion of various cluttered objects (albeit only to portray life and its messiness), Casa Ghibli, too, with its glass facades, offers enriching views into its interiors. The mundanity of the simply construed home is, hence, enhanced by the subtleties and trivialities of life that inhabit it. There are no climaxes designed in the structure, but a graceful inclusion of the prosaic happenings in life, just like your favourite Ghibli frame.

Project Details

Name: Casa Ghibli
Location: Brasília, Brazil
Area: 272 square metres
Year of completion: 2022
Architect: Nuevo Arquitetura
Design team: Thales Barnuevo, Mariana Mariano