Dezeen are in Venice for the opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2010 where Lisbon firm Aires Mateus Architects are exhibiting these houses with sandy floors, photographed by Nelson Garrido. Update: this project is included in Dezeen Book of Ideas, which is on sale now for £12.
Called Casa Areia, the project comprises seaside accommodation made of wooden frames covered in natural fibres.
Sand covers the floor in the kitchen and living space, connecting them to the beach and landscape outside.
Bedrooms are housed in separate structures.
The Venice Architecture Biennale runs 29 August - 21 November 2010.
Here's some text about the Casa Areia project from Garrido:
This construction is composed by 4 little houses in a place near the sea.
They where reconstructed with traditional methods using wood and a traditional stem.
This project was build on the sand that is a natural and abundant material that was transported to the interior of the common places (the living room and the kitchen) giving this way the connection between the environment and the new and totally integrated construction.
This is the most spectacular on this project, being on the living room with your feet on the sand, this is a totally comfortable construction even with warming floor that warms up the sand.
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Quality love the way it looks I was getting a bit bored with suppose design office.
Nice, but also maybe slightly precious? Kazuo Shinohara's earth floors make a more sense to me.
This is beautiful. I forsee a lot of trouble keeping those white slipcovers white, especially with little feet running around in the sand before climbing onto the chairs. But still beautiful!
im pretty sure those covers are removable for an easy wash. They must be cheap also.
the white ones are too white and shiny and too much design with too little personality – except for the roofs
Using a vacuum cleaner in this house is no fun!
The building is so rich and warm… the furnishings so …. so the opposite. How about everyone getting on the same page.
Amazingggg
This is great! Its from another planet!
it reminds me a lot of northeast of Brazil…
Its a big kitty litterbox.
Se queda a medio camino entre la idea de comfort urbano y entorno natural. Contrastan mucho los espacios con pisos en arena con aquellos espacios blancos inmaculados que podrían estar en cualquier ciudad. Una idea muy interesante, algo experimental, le falta algo más de soltura y relación real con el entorno.
Anyone knows where the exact location is? Any chance to stay in the cottage?
I know the place, and i found particularly special, the way they remade the old houses to built such a clean structure.
Rubbish if you drop the bread butter side down?
Now… that is bold-!
Shinohara's earth floors (or "women from dunes"), anyway its greate statement!