I walk up the open staircase, straight into the concrete underbelly of the house, it looks like a secret door, I feel like I’m sneaking in. Here I am, in Lina Bo Bardi’s modernist home in Sao Paulo: the Glass House.

A ceramic reproduction of a de Chirico painting welcomes me at the top of the stairs. The lobby opens up onto the vast living space: it’s a library, it’s a dining room, it’s an office, it’s light. Surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, I feel like I’m in a tree house, nature here is part of the furniture. It’s mid-morning, the sun fights its way through the dense rainforest and casts curvy shadows on the blue mosaic floor tiles. I now feel like I’m in a swimming pool. 

There’s nothing minimalist here, mid-century classics meet indigenous dark wood pieces, bowls, jars, paintings and figurines complete Lina’s eclectic decor. I like the zebra statue by the window very much.