This collaboration between the Brazilian teams of Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos transforms the former Mesbla department store in downtown São Paulo into a complex combining educational, artistic, sports, health, and leisure activities, su
The envelope of ceramic pieces rendered in a variety of colors does much to give the building a personality of its own in the urban fabric, while distinguishing each apartment unit. The 25-floor tower is located in Itaim Bibi, a São Paulo neighborhoo
Conceived as a pilot project, the Ladeira da Misericordia scheme gathers a series of building solutions that were to guide the recovery works of other decaying structures in the historic center of Salvador, Bahia. The site, comprising five properties
Planned by the ethnographer Pierre Verger, the cultural project of Casa do Benin is the result of a bilateral agreement to establish ties between Salvador and the Republic of Benin – where most of the slaves from Bahia came from –, by building a comm
The birthplace of avant-garde artistic movements, the Teatro Oficina was set up in the 1950s as an experimental drama company in the Bixiga neighborhood of São Paulo. The company’s building, which was partially destroyed in a fire, suffered several a
When Lina Bo Bardi visited the old metal barrel factory in the working class district of Pompéia with plans to build a sports and culture center, the space had already been occupied spontaneously by neighbors who spent the weekends amidst the warehou
On the boundaries of a suspended volume and a terraced plinth, the Museum of Art of São Paulo frames a collective space that functions as an agora and invites citizens to become part of the museum. In order to preserve the views over the northern par
Nestled in the exuberant vegetation of Mata Atlántica, in the neighborhood of Morumbi, São Paulo, the Glass House was designed by Lina Bo Bardi as a gathering place for artists, and as her own home. The main facade, transparent and built on stilts, a
This new performing arts center in São Paulo is situated on Praça das Artes, a place which gets its character through two representative historical buildings: the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory on the one hand, and the Cairo Cinema on the other. B
Used daily by approximately 120,000 people, the Parque Dom Pedro II Bus Station is located parallel to the Avenida do Estado in the São Paulo Cathedral district. Three rows of platforms with stops on either side organize bus traffic, with two accesse
Built in 1887 according to a design by Ramos de Azevedo, the neoclassical building of the old São Paulo Arts and Crafts Lyceum had never been entirely completed. The project to accommodate the State Art Museum, one of the most important collections i
Under a large concrete beam, the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture unfolds along a sequence of partially buried platforms that guide visitors from the exterior to the interior without interruption. Located in a residential district in which the urban cod
Rising on one of the hills in São Paulo, the Jaraguá Building directs its main facades towards the city’s two main axes, the Tietê and Pinheiros valleys. So that the communal spaces of each apartment can enjoy the views from these opposite facades, M
Built with in situ concrete but initially designed to be prefabricated, the twin houses for Mendes da Rocha and his sister stand one next to the other on a descending hillside in the residential district of Butantã, in São Paulo. The structure of the
Built in 1922 after the demolition of an old urban block, the square honoring José Bonifacio, Patriarch of Brazilian Independence, is located in a strategic site of São Paulo. Eight urban thoroughfares meet in this transition space, which is also con
Apoyada en tres grandes pilares de hormigón armado que apenas tocan el terreno, la casa se fragmenta en una serie de plataformas horizontales abiertas al paisaje feraz.
Un vacío central frente a un pequeño jardín es el núcleo de un estudio de fotografía cuyos recintos de trabajo se conectan entre sí mediante una estrecha pasarela de hormigón.
The Tres Picos nature reserve, located in Nova Friburgo, a Brazilian municipality in the mountains of the interior of Rio Bonito, provides the background for this small house devised as the residence-retreat of the director of the Museu de Imagens do
The construction of the FDE Public Schools is part of a program promoted by the Government of the State of São Paulo. All the schools have in common a construction system based on the use of industrialized components that facilitate the construction
In the middle of a landscape dotted with summer residences along the coast of São Paulo, Iporanga House is surrounded by a well-preserved and protected extension of Atlantic tropical forest. The exuberant vegetation urged the client to demand a struc
Surrounded by the dense vegetation of tropical areas, the summer shelter is close to the northern coast of the State of São Paulo. The building is configured as a shelter from the intense sun and the heavy rains, which however is not incompatible her
The construction of the auditorium of Ibirapuera Park has a long history: it was the only unbuilt structure from those included in the original project, completed in 1954, to celebrate the fourth centennial of the city of São Paulo. After several att
The idea of building this museum, first called Novo Museu and later rebaptized Oscar Niemeyer Museum, was conceived in 2001, when the Guggenheim Foundation decided to build a branch in Brazil. The capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná rose as cand
Considered a landmark of Brazilian architecture, the building is surrounded with symbolism and controversy. Symbolism because it was the first to use modern architecture as metaphor of Brazil’s political and economic transformations, initiated with t
It is a sure sign of the times we are living that the most recent editions of the world’s most important biennials of architecture and art have been characterized by an indisguisable political agenda, or at the least by a marked sensitivity to social
On view through 17 January 2019 at the Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin is ‘Enchanting Traces: Reflections on b720 Arquitectos,’ a retrospective exhibition on the firm established in 1997 by Fermín Vázquez and Ana Bassat, working from offices in Ba
The facade free of structural constraints postulated by Le Corbusier in his five points towards a new architecture was the logical consequence of the open plan. The liberation of the two families of planes – perpendicular or parallel to the ground –
Upon reaching the first decade of the century, the political, social, economic and cultural analysis of Brazil comes out positive, despite the existing contradictions. Since his election in 2003, president Lula dominates the political panorama with t
