Jaw-Dropping Homes by Brazilian Architects

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This summer, as the 2014 World Cup opens, all attention is on Brazil. The soccer tournament’s host country is of course known for its skilled players, from Pelé to Ronaldinho to Neymar, as well as a true passion for the beautiful game. But it’s also the source of bossa nova and samba, a place of stunning beaches and even more stunning models—and a trove of midcentury architecture and design. The most famous example is the capital city, Brasília, which was planned from the ground up in the 1950s and ’60s by Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa. That generation of Brazilian talent, including architect Lina Bo Bardi and designers Sérgio Rodrigues and Joaquim Tenreiro, made the postwar period a fertile one for South America’s largest nation. The international reputation they developed tends to overshadow that of their successors, even 2006 Pritzker Prize winner Paulo Mendes da Rocha, who is now an elder statesman himself.

Out in time for the World Cup kickoff, a new book by British design writer Dominic Bradbury aims to resolve this imbalance. Illustrated with beautiful photography by Richard Powers, New Brazilian House ( Thames & Hudson , $40) explores 25 recent projects by the country’s contemporary visionaries—Isay Weinfeld, Arthur Casas, and Marcio Kogan, and among them—showing how they have fashioned their own idiom, one that embraces rectilinear forms and organic materials, especially ipê, cumaru, and other Brazilian woods. Whether in the countryside, at the beach, or even in the greener reaches of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, these minimalist homes feature open-plan spaces and walls of glass that make the most of the country’s rich natural beauty.

New Brazilian House ($40) is available now from Thames & Hudson .

Tour a selection of striking homes featured in* New Brazilian House* .