Niemeyer’s modernism celebrated in Oscar Ibirapuera, an example of 21st-century São Paulo living
Perkins&Will completes Oscar Ibirapuera, next to Niemeyer’s modernist landmark park in São Paulo, Brazil

Perkins&Will has launched Oscar Ibirapuera, a new residential offering in São Paulo, located a stone’s throw from Niemeyer’s landmark namesake park project. The housing scheme, comprising a complex of high rises and a ground level designed for greenery, communal areas and social activity, takes the grand master's modernist architecture teachings and gives them a 21st-century twist, offering a fresh vision of living in the Brazilian metropolis.
Perkins&Will on Niemeyer’s Oscar Ibirapuera
Completed in 1954, the Ibirapuera Park by Oscar Niemeyer is a well-known part of the Brazilian modernist's legacy. Perkins&Will was appointed to create Oscar Ibirapuera, placed on the green expanse’s borders, blending its verdant nature with a high-end living proposition.
Commissioned by property developer Trisul, the project includes apartments spanning 186 sq m, 227 sq m and 233 sq m, featuring three or four bedrooms and up to four en suites.
'The floor plan was conceived so that the living room could [include] 9m at its front completely devoid of pillars, providing a panoramic view of Ibirapuera, something unique in the city,' says Douglas Tolaine, design director at Perkins&Will.
Communal areas – all expertly designed by architect Fernanda Marques – are equally well thought out, ranging from a luxuriously double-height gourmet party room, outdoor and indoor pools, a solarium, dry and wet saunas, a spa, a fitness room, a pilates room, a playground, a playroom, a game room and a bike rack.
Features throughout Oscar Ibirapuera draw on Brazilian midcentury modernism styles – movable brises-soleils on the façades, timber panels, white-coloured render and soft, curved forms, all gently nod to Niemeyer's work.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
The Wallpaper* Design Issue comes with our Salone del Mobile must-sees
The May 2025 issue of Wallpaper* is on sale now, taking in Milan Design Week, the Venice Biennale, and a very stylish tea party
By Bill Prince Published
-
Aboard Gio Ponti's colourful Arlecchino train in Milan, a conversation about design with Formafantasma
The design duo boards Gio Ponti’s train bound for the latest Prada Frames symposium at Milan Design Week
By Laura May Todd Published
-
The ultimate high-performance earbuds, courtesy of McLaren and Bowers & Wilkins
The new Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 McLaren Edition continues a decade’s worth of cross-pollination between these two tech-focused British manufacturers
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
At the Institute of Indology, a humble new addition makes all the difference
Continuing the late Balkrishna V Doshi’s legacy, Sangath studio design a new take on the toilet in Gujarat
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
How Le Corbusier defined modernism
Le Corbusier was not only one of 20th-century architecture's leading figures but also a defining father of modernism, as well as a polarising figure; here, we explore the life and work of an architect who was influential far beyond his field and time
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
How to protect our modernist legacy
We explore the legacy of modernism as a series of midcentury gems thrive, keeping the vision alive and adapting to the future
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A 1960s North London townhouse deftly makes the transition to the 21st Century
Thanks to a sensitive redesign by Studio Hagen Hall, this midcentury gem in Hampstead is now a sustainable powerhouse.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The new MASP expansion in São Paulo goes tall
Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) expands with a project named after Pietro Maria Bardi (the institution's first director), designed by Metro Architects
By Daniel Scheffler Published
-
Marta Pan and André Wogenscky's legacy is alive through their modernist home in France
Fondation Marta Pan – André Wogenscky: how a creative couple’s sculptural masterpiece in France keeps its authors’ legacy alive
By Adam Štěch Published
-
Modernist churches: we give praise for the genre’s concrete geometries
Modernist churches offer awe and architectural inspiration, blending concrete geometries with spiritual reverence; we take a tour
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
An Upstate Sao Paulo house embraces calm and the surrounding rolling hills
BGM House, an Upstate Sao Paulo house by Jacobsen Arquitetura, is a low, balanced affair making the most of its rural setting
By Ellie Stathaki Published