Outside of RIO DE JANEIRO, on a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water, sits a little house with a flowering roof that shades and protects like a big tropical banana leaf. Yes a tropical banana leaf. Designed by MAREINES + PATALONO, the open air pad is meant to encourage interaction and connection between man and nature. And if my small soho studio looked like this, I would be all over nature! With verandas and open spaces in between rooms and no corridors, the tropical beach house is an ideal place for social gatherings and parties. The open layout also takes advantage of trade winds that blow in from the sea, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.