URBAN JUNGLE

Flexible, automated and populated by plants - the perfect pad for 21st-century living is home to an innovative Brazilian architect

- Kate Jacobs

guto Requena is an architect who has spent 20 years exploring his many passion projects, from harnessing digital technologies to exploring biophilia - that's seeking a connection with the natural world, to you and me. In his apartment in buzzing São Paulo, he's had the chance to play with these big ideas and create a deeply desirable home along the way. The apartment is located in the Albina building, a striking Brutalist monolith wrapped in perforated panels of rich red wood, a 'brise soleil' that shades and cools the apartments within. I've been dreaming of this building since I was a student-it's truly iconic,' says Guto.

With one apartment per floor, Guto just needed to tweak the thoughtfully planned layout to bring it in line with his lifestyle needs. 'I always tell my students that we shouldn't design in terms of rooms like bedroom, living room and kitchen. Instead, we should consider activities like eating, socialising or relaxing.' With its warm woods and lush greenery, the apartment draws heavily on the Amazon, where Guto and husband Hugo travelled after their wedding: "The tones there fascinated us and we wanted to bring them home. The yellow modular sofa was chosen to reflect the colour of bird of paradise flowers, while the handmade clay floor tiles are literally of the earth and feel wonderful under bare feet', says Guto. For me, texture is important.

Guto had wanted a balcony apartment before falling for this place, so he decided to transform the apartment into an urban rainforest. A city like São Paulo doesn't have great air quality,' he says, 'but we have the perfect conditions to grow inside, to create a microclimate that improves oxygen levels and even reduces the temperature. Suspended planters run the length of the apartment at ceiling height, while pots of all sizes are gathered in clusters.