Casa da Flor, Heritage house in São Pedro da Aldeia, Brazil.
Casa da Flor is a residential house in São Pedro da Aldeia decorated with mosaic patterns made from ceramic fragments, seashells, tiles, glass pieces, and recycled materials covering the walls, floors, and furniture. The entire structure displays three-dimensional arrangements of these collected objects integrated into the building itself.
Gabriel Joaquim dos Santos, whose parents were a formerly enslaved woman and an indigenous person, began constructing this house in 1923 and continued the work until his death in 1985. This extended construction period allowed him to develop and expand his artistic vision over decades.
The house shows how local people transformed discarded materials into artistic elements through creative craftsmanship. Visitors can see how this approach reflects a particular way of building and thinking about objects.
The house is located in Rio de Janeiro state and offers guided tours where builders explain the construction methods used throughout the space. Checking the opening times in advance is helpful, as visiting hours may vary seasonally or on certain days.
The creator systematically collected waste materials from his surroundings and developed his own method of integrating objects directly into the building structure over many years. This approach makes the house distinctly different from other buildings in the region, standing alone in its execution of this particular vision.
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