Memola Estúdio Transforms Rationalist São Paulo House with Parisian Boiseries

Memola Estúdio has renovated Cinco House in São Paulo, a 450-square-meter rationalist residence originally designed by Studio MK27. The project inserts European-inspired boiseries, custom metalwork, and tactile materials into the rigid modernist shell, creating a tension between Brazilian modernism and personal history. The interior features a hand-prototyped staircase with curved wooden handrails, herringbone wood flooring, and a modular shelving system. The courtyard uses rough stone and a vertical planter wall, while a home office was created by enclosing a solarium with a glass skylight. The design rejects hyper-minimalism, incorporating mid-century Brazilian classics like Sergio Rodrigues' Vivi armchair and Percival Lafer's MP-13 seats alongside contemporary pieces. The project argues for architectural friction over erasure of ancestral memory.