Homes

how do we live?

From the point of view of the bourgeois model of living, Brazilian specialist in Homes, Marcelo Tramontano tells us that “house” and the “street” are two terms in opposition. While the streets are collective and common spaces, homes are exclusive and intimate spaces, shared only with those we trust.

About space
deployment

Just as there is the city grid, residences have architectural plans that guide how this space is divided. According to Tramontano, the similarities between the housing in the four metropolises in this study comes a lot “from a historical point of view, because Latin America received housing models from other places, especially Europe”. Consequently, the four cities “received exactly the same European model” – a tripartite model.
Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago
Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago
Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
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Although with multiple influences and configurations, the division of the tripartite model almost always goes through the three main characteristics that Tramontano calls “reception sphere”, as in the living room being “a room that commands the others”; “rejection sphere”, spaces reserved for employees, such as kitchens; and “intimacy spaces”, which are the bedrooms. A model to shelter the bourgeoisie “spread during the Belle Epoque period”.
When we look at the residences in São Paulo, Mexico City, Santiago and Buenos Aires, we noticed that although we have particular architectural differences in the external areas, the interiors are similar. Inside the residences/homes, we find a behavioral trend that revolves around three archetypes:

the expressive home, an affective and emotional way of living;

the sociable home, always open to friends;

the functional home, in which practicality is highlighted.

Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo
Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago
Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo
Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago
Photo: Paulina Malvaez, Mexico City
Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
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Each one reflects the identity of those who live in them; a private territory to fulfill desires and wishes. For our partner in London, Stu Etnicknap, from 8th Day: Our homes reflect not who we are, but who we want to be.

About home typologies

Amid these types of homes and manifestations of personalities, the duality between house and apartment is present. Living at a house gives people the feeling of being able to enjoy the indoors and outdoors in the comfort of their own home. The apartment, on the other hand, brings a stronger issue of space: many are tiny and the lack of space is a hindrance (much more noticeable during the pandemic restrictions).
“One interesting thing about the renovation is that we removed this room and now the living space look much bigger, but really our house is a shoebox, but we also changed the flooring to make it more ample, whatever we could do to make it bigger, we did.”
Dwellers of TatuapéSao Paulo, couple, 34 and 36 y-o
“I needed a real kitchen space… I need a stove, an electric oven, I need a fridge. I like cooking food and it’s very hard in a very reduced space.”
Dweller of an apartment in Vila BuarqueSao Paulo, 25 and 30 y-o
“The laundry room is a big meetup spot, because you can’t fit a washing machine here, so we all end up meeting in the laundry room, it’s a common area where neighbors socialize…”
Dweller of the Copan buildingSao Paulo, 28 y-o
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An important point to note is that the offer directly influences the way we live. For Tramontano, “certainly the people from Buenos Aires and Santiago live much better than the people from São Paulo and Mexico City, because they have an architecture that is studied for them. That is thought out and that listens to these people”. On the other hand, in Brazil, according to the specialist, the physical arrangement “is the basis for [mortgage] funding”, and many – like a couple we interviewed who live in Tatuapé – need to hire an architect to customize the interiors. “It’s a physical arrangement that enables the best cost-benefit. Another question is what they need. What is necessary, because nobody can live in a 10 square meter apartment. That is absurd.” adds Tramontano.

Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago

Design as an Expression
of Identity

Milene Correa Soares, Brazilian specialist in Homes, says that “in the interior design world every choice is a reflection of an acknowledgement of one’s own identity”. Regardless of the format, all homes accumulate stories and interior design plays a significant role in this process.

In the photos we took at homes in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Santiago, we see places/environments that make the best use of light, space and quiet––all very important attributes.

Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago

Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
Photo: Sofia Cossari, Buenos Aires
Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo
Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo
Photo: Mário Álvarez, Santiago
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There are also common symbols in the homes we visit. Decorative elements that express engagement with soccer, religion, politics, and regionality are common. Images of entities of various religions and flags that represent support for certain social struggles, and even political candidates, are mixed with regional icons.
“It’s a very quiet building, a very quiet neighborhood, it’s very quiet here. This was something that added strongly when choosing our home”
Dweller of an apartment in the Mooca Sao Paulo, 27 y-o
“In my apartment there are two common areas, the living room and the dining room, which are in the same space and are separated by the couch. The couch is the only furniture in the room and it’s kind of an entertainment center, in the same space where the area we use to have meals is.”
Dweller of an apartment in NarvarteMexico City, 38 y-o
“My favorite part of the neighborhood is the businesses, because it’s a very vibrant area and even on weekends the main streets are closed so people can walk on the streets.”
Dweller of a house in BoedoBuenos Aires, 30 y-o
“… there’s also that, when you rent a house: you can adapt the house up to a certain point so it looks more personal, but it will hardly be from scratch, right, because there are limits to what you can change; you can paint a wall, but if you leave the place you have to change it back.”
Dweller of an apartment in the MoocaSao Paulo, 27 y-o
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We can also find a lot about pop culture and travel, and even a certain national pride, seen in flags of countries and identity cultures fixed on walls, windows, and balconies, spaces that restrain public and private.
Among people who have outsourced the interior design of their homes, there is the possibility that they feel that these spaces do not reflect their individuality and particular stories; because decorating the spaces becomes more pragmatic when it is not done by the resident.

About usability
of the spaces

Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo

Milene Correa Soares

Brazilian Specialist, Homes

The kitchen is an important space and one of continuous use, whether it is for preparing and consuming daily meals or for receiving friends. The balcony reveals a leisure space, a corner for relaxing – some of these balconies have enough space to meditate, escape from routine or bring a bit of nature into the home. In the bedrooms and living rooms there is a greater care for comfort and the possibility of hosting guests. “In my everyday life, I relate more to the bedroom, evidently the bathroom, the office and the kitchen. This large living space, we reserve for guests or meeting with friends.”, told us a resident from the neighborhood of Ñuñoa, in Santiago.

Another remarkable thing is how the pandemic has transformed the internal dynamics with structures designed for work or adapted for this kind of need. Office tables and chairs and spaces dedicated to the home office emerged. For Eduardo Costa, a Brazilian expert on Cities, “home, leisure and work, which is the trend in polycentric neighborhoods, will happen indoors as well.” Homes are not static places, they live the rhythm of life of the inhabitants, their plants and their pets.

Home Paradoxes

Home is a space of intimacy and sharing, but beyond this, it is also a place of paradoxes.

Maria Elisa Cevasco, Brazilian Material Culture expert, reminds us that “we don’t need to idealize the home”. Beyond physical structures, a house is made of the subjectivity, complexity, and diversity of those who live in it. Marcelo Tramontano, Brazilian specialist in housing, says that “the living space is that intersection of individual lives and is where all the issues of society are reflected and constructed.”

Although homes are defined as private and exclusive places, the social dynamics that are outside the door are also there. Invariably, neighborhoods and homes nourish each other.

Photo: Sabrina Guimarães, Sao Paulo