Through The Looking Glass

With a transparent swimming pool adjoining the living room, Brazilian architect Fernanda Marques designs a unique home in São Paulo…

- Nandini Banerjee

‘I WANTED THE SWIMMING POOL TO BE A PIECE OF ART, SO IT BECAME AN AQUARIUM WITHOUT FISH, IN THIS HOME!’

These words of architect Fernanda Marques of Fernanda Marques Arquitetos Associados sums up the design story of this gorgeous, one-of-a-kind Brazilian home at São Paulo. Imagined and crafted by Fernanda, the two-floor apartment can easily be mistaken for being a sanctuary for artworks and not a real home. But, it is the transparent swimming pool in the living room that steals the show. ‘The home is for a couple who are avid art collectors. The owner works in the financial market and owns works by artists I greatly admire, such as Ernesto Neto, Edgard de Souza, Manoel Rio Branco, Zerbini, Tunga. The works speak directly about the issue of space – hence the importance of their placement in this home,’ explains Fernanda.