

Designed by the Brazilian studios Firma Arquitectura and Oficina Aberta, this simple volume was annexed to a preexisting preschool to accommodate extracurricular activities. Translucent sliding doors open up to the exterior. The construction uses ind
Opened in the year 2017, the Japan House in São Paulo is the first example developed within the ‘Japan House’ initiative, developed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote various aspects of Japanese culture in the world. The building
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
Minimod Cutuçaba is a house built on the logic of plug & play prefabrication. It is formed by cubic modules – measuring 3 x 3 x 3 meters – prepared principally with wood, combinable in different ways to topographically, visually, and environmentally
Minimod Cutuçaba is a house built on the logic of plug & play prefabrication. It is formed by cubic modules – measuring 3 x 3 x 3 meters – prepared principally with wood, combinable in different ways to topographically, visually, and environmenta
As if it were a hut for postmodern beaux sauvages, the house appears in the clearing of a rainforest in the Brazil’s São Paulo region. But the mountainous topography and the dense vegetation, which could have inspired easy metaphors, do not determine
A 93-meter high residential tower, with a hotel and apartments, becomes a vertical extension of the adjoining Matarazzo park; a series of terraces form luxuriant green surfaces, planted with the same species that grow in the park. Designed as a tree
In 1990 mayor Luiza Erundina hired Lina Bo Bardi to refurbish the Palácio das Indústrias, which, located next to Parque Dom Pedro II, was to become the new home for the São Paulo City Hall. The project included on the one hand the renovation of the o
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
Suffocated by the intense traffic of São Paulo, the Anhangabaú Valley was the subject of a public competition held in 1981, and that called for ideas on how to revert a process that had transformed the park into an avenue with big parking areas. The
Rio de Janeiro was a port of call on Le Corbusier’s way to Argentina in October 1929, and the Swiss architect then likened its urbanization to “filling the tub of the Danaids.” The scenery was not alpine; nonetheless, he found it “violent and sublime
A specter haunts the world: the rebellion of the middle classes. In the latest episode, the cities of Brazil and Turkey have been the scene of an uprising against political and economic elites by young people summoned through social networks and prov
The oeuvre of Paulo Mendes da Rocha can be assessed through three buildings. The projects, separated by a thirty-year interval, all won public competitions. This is the case of the Paulistano Athletic Club Gymnasium (1958), in São Paulo; the Brazilia
State Art Gallery, São Paulo (Brazil) Alternating with its European equivalent, the Mies van der Rohe Prize of Latin American architecture fell in its second edition upon on a state art gallery in São Paulo, housed by Paulo Mendes Da Rocha, Eduardo