ZAIA

Z A I A Our projects are designed to establish a harmonious and timeless balance between architecture and the environment, creating a spatial unity that integrates these elements in a meaningful and thoughtful way. It is through this principle that we aim to design spaces where every element of the project is based on well-founded solutions, derived from collected data and parameters, with a strong focus on efficiency, sustainability, and user experience. From the urban scale to the smallest detail, from the relationship with the environment to the implementation of the program, the architecture we create goes beyond boundaries, embracing the entirety of space and its limitless potential. #arquitetura #urbanism #design #memorial #museum #casa #house #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #arqpedia #nature

We are honored to be named one of the 10 Best New Architecture Firms in the world by the Architecture Hunter Awards! @architecture_hunter_awards @architecture_hunter #arquitectura #architecture #arquitetura #architecturehunter #architecturehunterawards2025

Located at the corner between a quiet dead-end street and Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek, the project introduces a mixed-use building within a predominantly corporate and single-use context in São Paulo. The ground level is activated through commercial programs and a sequence of indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, transforming the former dead-end into a pedestrian plaza that unfolds into an internal atrium. This layered spatial strategy enhances circulation while creating moments of pause and social interaction. The building’s form responds to regulatory and solar constraints, unfolding into stacked volumes with planted terraces that improve thermal comfort and act as natural shading devices. Above, a subtle cantilever reinforces these strategies, reducing energy demand while shaping a dynamic urban presence. _project: Pixel Building _location: São Paulo, Brazil _architecture: @studiozaia _visuals: courtesy of studio zaia —— @architecture_hunter is a non-traditional media that inspires, informs, and entertains a worldwide audience of over 3 million design enthusiasts. 🔎 get published: architecturehunter.com/register 🎥 watch & read: architecturehunter.com 🏆 follow: @architecture_hunter_awards 🏷️ tag #architecture_hunter to be hunted

Four years of ZAIA! Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey!

Institute for Climate and Terrain Studies of Gangwon Location: Gangwon, South Korea Year: 2026 Located in Gangwon, South Korea, on a site defined by extreme climatic conditions, the Institute for Climate and Terrain Studies of Gangwon was conceived to shorten the distance between researchers and their object of study. Embedded within a hostile landscape, the facility enables direct scientific engagement with the terrain while transforming isolation into proximity. Its partially subterranean configuration provides natural thermal insulation and environmental stability, reducing the need for additional heating systems and ensuring protection during severe weather events. The project’s defining element is its multifunctional elevated roof, raised at two points like a sheet of paper lifted from the ground. Its geometry maximizes solar energy absorption while deflecting prevailing winds, increasing energy generation and preventing ice accumulation on photovoltaic panels. The system’s natural warming assists in snowmelt, enabling water collection and contributing to internal heating. Fully self-sustainable, the institute integrates energy production, water management, and thermal regulation into a cohesive strategy that reinforces feasibility and resilience in such an extreme environment. Beyond performance, the elevated structure establishes the institute as a landmark within a vast and technologically limited territory. In a region where radio and wireless signals are often unreliable, its height and singular silhouette provide physical orientation for researchers and travelers. More than a research facility, the building stands as a material expression of scientific value, embodying autonomy, environmental intelligence, and a commitment to knowledge production in challenging landscapes. #arquitetura #sustainability #arquitectura #architecture #zaia

Eekhoud Building Location: Antwerp, Belgium Year: 2025 The Eekhoud Building, in Antwerp, is a contemporary annex to the local library, a dynamic space for culture, community, and sustainability. The program includes a hall with books and study areas, and a multifunctional auditorium for classes, exhibitions, and cultural events. This central space, the project’s key element, acts as an urban catalyst, monumental yet accessible. Built from reclaimed timber with minimal steel, the structure reduces impact, optimized to use less material while remaining stable and expressive. The building connects two streets, encouraging circulation, with a glass façade that maximizes daylight and highlights the central atrium. More than an annex, it is a landmark: a hub for culture, a meeting point for ideas, and a symbol of sustainability and innovation. #arquitetura #library #cultural #sustainability #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #amazingarchitecture #archdaily #designboom #designmilk #dezeen #illustrarch #parametricarchitecture #architizer #arqpedia #nature

Maritime Museum of Brazil Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Year: 2021 The Brazilian Maritime Museum’s design aims not only to preserve and exhibit Brazil’s maritime history, but also to reflect on the sea’s cultural and symbolic role in shaping the nation’s identity. The museum’s waterfront location reinforces this connection, turning the building into both a cultural landmark and a space for exploration. The visitor’s journey is conceived as an immersive voyage through Brazil’s maritime legacy, guided by a building that itself evokes the motion and mystery of the sea. The museum’s dynamic façade, made of temperature-responsive fabric, changes according to climate conditions, controlling ventilation, solar exposure, and light diffusion. Operated by an Arduino-based system, the façade adapts in real time, providing comfort and visual intrigue as it blurs the boundary between interior and exterior. In contrast, two opaque land-facing volumes provide balance and grounding, emphasizing the duality between the known and the unknown. Inside, elevated wooden walkways connect exhibition spaces of different scales and heights, ensuring a continuous and ever-changing visitor experience that encourages discovery and engagement. Sustainability is central to the project. Its wooden structure reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 3,500 tons, while optimizing the site’s weak foundations. The museum integrates passive cooling strategies, rainwater harvesting, and renewable energy systems. More than a museum, the project stands as an architectural synthesis of tradition, technology, and ecology, a space where Brazil’s maritime history is celebrated through innovation and a deep respect for nature. Team: Giancarllo Zaia Bruno; João Mattos; Alexandre Rocha; Ana Laura Lange Hee; Barbara Carvalhosa; Caio Soreio Caccaos; Daniel Nogueira; Felipe Sato; Guilherme Braga Góes; Rafael Soares Mourão; William Martins Cruz. #arquitetura #museum #cultural #sustainability #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #amazingarchitecture #archdaily #designboom #designmilk #dezeen #illustrarch #parametricarchitecture #architizer #arqpedia

Montesanti House Location: Massachusetts, US Year: 2025 Located in the heart of a dense forest in Massachusetts, set in a region with predominantly cold weather, the project adopts advanced technological and constructive solutions. High-performance glazing and thermal insulation ensure comfort while preserving transparency and continuity with the outdoors. Its hybrid wood and steel structure supports large glass spans and dialogues with the forest’s natural materiality, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. A modular wooden façade, composed of movable panels integrated with an AI system, adapts to weather, sunlight, and use, balancing privacy and openness throughout the day. This project synthesizes technology, comfort, and sensitivity to place, proving that it is possible to live in deep connection with nature, even under challenging climatic conditions. #arquitetura #house #casa #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #arqpedia #nature

Pixel Building Location: São Paulo, Brazil Year: 2024 The project is located at the corner where a small dead-end street meets Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek, one of São Paulo’s busiest avenues. Set within a predominantly corporate, single-use area, the building was designed as a mixed-use space offering moments of rest and social interaction amid the urban intensity. The contrast in scale and movement between the two streets required special attention at ground level, using this duality to enrich user experience and improve the urban environment. Activating the ground floor is a central strategy of the project, achieved through commercial uses and the creation of both indoor and outdoor gathering spaces that encourage pedestrian circulation. The former dead-end street was transformed into a pedestrian plaza, converting an underused space into a breathing area along the avenue. From this new plaza, visitors enter the building and reach a second, internal plaza — an atrium shaped by the building’s own form — that offers additional spatial and social experiences. The building’s form responds to regulatory and solar parameters to enhance thermal comfort and energy efficiency. Height restrictions along the dead-end street led to the design of stacked cubic volumes, creating a stepped base with planted terraces that serve as green spaces and natural sunshades. Above this base, the tower slightly cantilevers, providing additional shading for the middle floors and reducing the need for artificial cooling. By transforming regulatory constraints into design drivers, the project becomes an architecturally engaging and sustainable structure that enhances user experience while contributing positively to the city. #arquitetura #building #tower #sustainability #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #amazingarchitecture #archdaily #designboom #designmilk #dezeen #illustrarch #parametricarchitecture #architizer #arqpedia

Montesanti House Massachusetts, US Year: 2025 Located in the heart of a dense forest in Massachusetts, set in a region with predominantly cold weather, the project adopts advanced technological and constructive solutions. High-performance glazing and thermal insulation ensure comfort while preserving transparency and continuity with the outdoors. Its hybrid wood and steel structure supports large glass spans and dialogues with the forest’s natural materiality, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. A modular wooden façade, composed of movable panels integrated with an AI system, adapts to weather, sunlight, and use, balancing privacy and openness throughout the day. This project synthesizes technology, comfort, and sensitivity to place, proving that it is possible to live in deep connection with nature, even under challenging climatic conditions. #arquitetura #house #casa #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #arqpedia #nature

We are honored to be named one of the 10 Best New Architecture Firms in the world by the Architecture Hunter Awards!! @architecture_hunter @architecture_hunter_awards

LF House Location: Curitiba, Brasil Year: 2022 Located in Curitiba, the house sits on a large, densely wooded plot with a clearing at its center, where the topography behaves like a large funnel. This topographical feature was used as a design strategy, allowing for the creation of a roof level with the upper part of the topography, and using the lowest part of the topography as the main level of the house. The circular-shaped house allows for the creation of a central courtyard, toward which the entire house is oriented. The entire program was arranged radially, so that the central courtyard becomes the meeting point for all the rooms in the house. At specific points, cutouts in the topography are made to allow for the creation of gardens and terraces to provide more natural light to certain rooms, such as bedrooms and bathrooms. The “funnel” shape of the land allows the house to be “buried” without major earthmoving, making the project as sustainable as possible in this regard and allowing the building to blend into its surroundings, creating a harmonious conjunction between nature and architecture. #arquitetura #house #casa #arquitectura #architecture #zaia #architecturehunter #arqpedia #nature