The Glass House records history in its architecture. Changing over the years through its uses and new configurations, interior – furniture, objects, works of art – and exterior – vegetation, plateaus, paths – dialogue and adapt to different occupation needs. The House is part of a set consisting of three more buildings – the caretaker’s house, the garage, and the studio. They are arranged on different levels amidst the dense garden totaling almost 7,000 sqm of land area.

THE GLASS HOUSE

The Glass House occupies the most elevated area of the land. It detaches itself from the ground as it advances towards the landscape, creating a platform over slender cylindrical pillars. Three of its sides are completely glazed, from floor to ceiling, configuring the living room. The back of the room is a masonry wall, which divides the social area from the private area of the residence: bedrooms, bathrooms, vestibule and hallway. The kitchen opens onto the garden, at the back of the house, communicating with the service area.

THE CARETAKER’S HOUSE, THE GARAGE, AND THE STUDIO

The caretaker’s house is located on the east side of the terrain, 14 meters below the main floor of the Glass House, next to Seguidilha Street. The green roof slab intersects the sloping ground, covered by the same vegetation of the surroundings. The windows and door open onto a narrow terrace, structured by a retaining wall of large granite stones, disguising itself among the shrubby vegetation. The garage, similarly to the caretaker’s house, mimics the terrain amongst the vegetation. It was built as a structural masonry box, with few openings beyond the main gate opening up an entire face of the volume. A reinforced concrete garden roof covers the volume. The rustic external coating, with rolled pebbles and inlaid ceramic shards, materially transforms the construction into part of the ground, such as the garden walls. Located next to General Almério de Moura Street, it is the first building seen from the entrance to the complex. The fourth building is the studio, located at the southeast end of the terrain, 17 meters below the main floor of the Glass House. A simple wood construction, covered with ceramic tile roofing and completed by a hydraulic module made of masonry, it is interconnected with the vehicle access ramp through a path of sandstone floors, which is flanked by masonry walls with cast-iron handrails. To serve suppliers and facilitate access for employees, the studio has an independent entrance, on Bandeirante Sampaio Soares Street.

THE GARDEN

The Glass House’s garden occupies a large part of the 7,000 sqm land and was planned and planted by Lina herself. The low vegetation of the time was transformed into a private forest, with pathways decorated with stones and pottery shards. On the back porch of the main house, a clay oven and a brick oven suggest the outdoor extension of kitchen activities. Winding paths made of stone slabs and masonry walls covered in the same materials as the garage, meander through the entire land, configuring some areas with wide, flat floors as possible seating areas amidst the garden.