Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados Ltda of Brazil, competition winners for the Brazil location, addressed a global housing shortage in their design by getting to the essentials of comfortable living. "Essential Architecture" embraces basic minimalist construction with an economic use of materials for a light structure and design. This idea of essentials extends to the building's glass-free facade and carefully planned ventilation that eliminates the need for mechanical cooling systems.

The city of Recife, where the building will be erected, is located in a humid tropical zone, and Essential Architecture includes many features that address the intense solar radiation, high rainfall index and the high humidity and temperatures. But in doing so, Andrade Morettin Arquitetos identified the need for this type of housing in other areas of the world. Fifty percent of the world is located in a humid-tropical zone while concurrently being the home of many developing countries in need of essential, affordable living. And so the firm gave special attention to providing a solution that is adaptable to other similar cultural and climatic geographies.

Since quality of life in this tropical location depends mainly on good ventilation for thermal comfort and hygiene, the Essential Architecture concept is permeable, with large open spaces and vented outdoor screens. Cross ventiliation is supported by open interiors, room dividers of medium height and shutters, designed to block the intense light of the sun while allowing free air circulation. Materials with low mass and low thermal inertia and bright finishing colours are used to avoid heat accumulation during the day. A neighborhood development scheme also was foreseen, employing isolated blocks distributed on the site so as to allow the air to flow between buildings. The roof is a large steel umbrella cantilevered off the structure, providing shade for the residences and ensuring the glass-free facade has good protection from the tropical rain.

To faciliate construction on the site's poor soil and considering potential flooding of the nearby wetlands, the building is elevated on columns with light steel structures that do not exceed the load-bearing capacity of the soil. The simple, essential construction also supports ease of dismantling and recycling at the end of the building's useful life. The steel in the structure and other parts of the building can be 100% recycled.

Overall, the Jury was impressed and encouraged by the simplicity and elegance of this scheme and its appropriateness to the culture and place. The jury also noted that the scheme demonstrated good use of the proposed steel structure to create a flexible, open lightweight character.