Casa Pinhal Proves the Best Brazilian Architecture Barely Touches the Ground - Yanko Design

"Deep in the Serra da Mantiqueira, where the air is thin and the forest floor barely registers sunlight, Cornetta Arquitetura has completed Casa Pinhal - a 690-square-metre residence in Santo Antônio do Pinhal, São Paulo, that reads less like a building dropped into nature and more like one that grew out of it."

"The site is demanding by any measure: a 4,900-square-metre plot with a steep incline and dense native vegetation already well established across it. Rather than fight the terrain, lead architect Pedro Cornetta made the land itself the primary design brief. The project was guided by one clear principle - touch the ground as little as possible. The result is a holiday house that gives its guests the impression of walking among trees rather than beside them."

"The structural language is built around glued laminated timber (MLC - Madeira Laminada Colada) and wood frame construction, executed in collaboration with Rewood using eucalyptus sourced for the project. Rewood completed the entire timber structure in just 30 days - 40 cubic metres of glulam going up with a pace that conventional concrete construction rarely allows. The system combines a column beam frame, a trapezoidal sandwich roof, dry panel floor slabs, and wood frame walls, all working together as a prefabricated assembly that keeps the site footprint minimal and the build time compressed."

"At night, the house undergoes a shift: internal lighting catches the grain of the timber, bounces off the concrete, and filters through the glass, turning what is a disciplined structure by day into something closer to a lantern. It's the kind of detail that separates a house that photographs well f"

Casa Pinhal is a 690-square-metre residence in Santo Antônio do Pinhal, São Paulo, set on a steep, densely vegetated 4,900-square-metre plot in the Serra da Mantiqueira. The design prioritizes touching the ground as little as possible, creating an experience of walking among trees rather than beside a building. The structure uses glued laminated timber (MLC) and wood frame construction with eucalyptus supplied for the project. Rewood completed the timber structure in 30 days, assembling about 40 cubic metres of glulam. The system combines a column beam frame, trapezoidal sandwich roof, dry panel floor slabs, and wood frame walls as a prefabricated assembly to reduce site footprint and shorten build time. Inside, wood, concrete, and expansive glass panels shape the volumes, while night lighting turns the house into a lantern-like presence through timber grain, concrete reflection, and glass filtering.

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