Floating in a canopy of trees, an exhibition pavilion designed by São Paulo-based architects Andrade Morettin marks the cultural epicentre of a future neighbourhood for the Brazilian city of Campinas. Fusing nature, views and community purpose, the modern treehouse encapsulates the aspirations of Casa Figueira, an urban district developed by Iguatemi that broke ground in 2025 and will eventually accommodate 50,000 residents.

Tour the pavilion at Casa Figueira

Expanding the concept of a marketing suite, the pavilion is rather a place of inspiration aiming to spark dialogue between developers, residents, and the public. Its sky-bridge crosses from the land to a platform suspended 24-metres above the gardens of the historic Fazenda Brandina coffee estate, around which this new district will grow.

Surrounded by planting, the structure is built of eucalyptus-based Glulam timber, sourced from a local reforestation production chain, and steel manufactured in Brazil. It’s wrapped in glass windows and terraces shaded by the over-hanging roof – a contemporary interpretation of Brazilian modernism that immerses visitors in the emerging urban and environmental landscape (the project will eventually feature a park designed by Brazilian landscape architect Isabel Duprat).

The design balances 'contemplation and anticipation,' explains Carlos Jereissati, board member at Iguatemi, and former CEO whose family founded the company in 1966. 'The architecture frames the horizon, allowing you to look out and imagine what the neighbourhood will become,' he says.

Inside, urban ideas will be explored across interactive urban models, a 150-seat auditorium and flexible event and exhibition spaces. Topics up for discussion will span from smart cities to 15-minute cities, and a series of evolving questions about public space, quality of life, and inclusivity will be posed.

'Andrade Morettin’s architecture has a precision and lightness that felt very aligned with what this first building needed to be: not an object, but a framework for experience,' explains Jereissati.

This vessel continues the international research that has contributed to the development of Casa Figueira. Responding to the challenges of Brazilian cities today, its polycentric masterplan creates a more integrated and human-scaled urban environment. Over one million square meters, 100 mixed-use towers will be woven together with amenities, parks and sustainable infrastructure.

It’s Iguatemi’s first urban district and most ambitious project to date, anchored to the Iguatemi Campinas shopping centre originally established in 1980. For Jereissati, many insights can be translated from retail to urbanism: 'Iguatemi has spent decades understanding how people move, meet, spend time together and seek quality in their daily lives. That experience is very relevant here, because successful urban spaces also depend on convenience, comfort, identity, and a strong sense of place.'

The pavilion, therefore, performs as a receptacle between past and future. Its architecture by Andrade Morettin is rooted in the values of Brazilian modernism, whilst initiating a design language that will contribute to the future district. Meanwhile, a symbolic fig tree represents Casa Figueira’s commitment to bringing green spaces to its residents, whilst connecting back in time to a 200-year-old fig tree in the old garden of the estate.

Though the pavilion’s architectural footprint treads lightly and is relatively minuscule compared to the vast weight and scale of the district’s construction, its suspended presence over time and ability to inspire collective reflection intend to make a lasting impact. 'It is both a preview and a platform: a way to build a shared understanding of what this new urban centrality can become,' concludes Jereissati.

casafigueiracampinas.com.br

andrademorettin.com.br

For her most recent project in São Paulo, Brazilian architect Fernanda Marques drew inspiration from a recent trip to Japan – ‘particularly on the quiet, contemplative islands of Naoshima,’ she says.

She was entranced by the work of Tadao Ando, a master of light and concrete. ‘I became deeply aware of the power of thresholds - of pauses, voids, and transitions,’ she says. That design approach is at the heart of what she’s called The Edge house.

Marques was tasked to create a modern family residence by renovating an older house on the site. The architect and her team worked with the existing structure, selecting and preserving only the essential elements of the original construction.

‘In Edge House, architecture becomes less about form and more about experience - an ever-shifting interplay between interior and exterior, solidity and void, where each boundary is less a limit and more an invitation,’ Marques explains.

The home’s dialogue between openness and enclosure allows for a retreat-like quality and a relaxed spirit of a summer house - perfect for Marques’ clients, a couple with two infants and two teenagers. To meet the needs of the different age groups, the house was redesigned to accommodate spaces for all – especially for the adults who enjoy amenities like a gym, sauna and spa.

It was a challenging task, Marques says. ‘The house needed to support different routines, age groups and moments, from spaces dedicated to children to more private areas, from social gatherings to quieter, more introspective environments,’ she explains.

So she approached the four-level house as a series of layers, ones that accommodate all of the family’s needs but spatially felt seamless. 'I was interested in how each space could unfold into the next, without rupture, allowing the house to be experienced as a continuous sequence,’ Marques says.

The team delivered on their goal; the integration of spaces unfolds naturally. Materiality is at the core of the design cohesion that prevails. The use of travertine marble and slatted wood is central to the material language and continues across both façade and interiors.

The building's entrance hall is Marques’ favourite element: ‘It concentrates many of the intentions behind the project, the relationship with nature, the control of light, and the articulation of space through sequence rather than form alone.’

Coupled with the entry sequence, the vertical garden is also central to the home's experience, nodding to the owners' indoor-outdoor lifestyle. The residence expands across four floors, which host the children’s and primary bedrooms, a wellness space, a TV room, and social and leisure areas.

‘I would like visitors to experience a sense of calm, along with a subtle shift from the rhythm of the city,’ Marque reflects.. ‘The house does not reveal itself all at once. It invites a slower reading, where movement, pause and perception become part of the experience.’

In the 1970s, the Brazilian architect Eduardo Longo imagined a utopian urban community in which people would live in spherical silver pods suspended above the street in wire meshes. These capsule high-rises have yet to come to fruition, but Casa Bola, the radical prototype he built for himself and his family above his home/office in São Paulo, will be open to visitors for the first time from 7 March until 31 May 2026 as part of Aberto, an exhibition platform for contemporary art and design. Viewers’ journey around it will be enlightened by artworks made in response to the building and its inimitable creator.

Tour Eduardo Longo’s home at Aberto5

Longo, who is now 83, was drawn to the idea of spherical buildings while he was exploring the ideal unit that could be industrially produced. ‘The sphere is the lightest volume possible, and that fascinated me,’ he explains. ‘My dream was to create very light modular houses that could even be transported by air.’

The architect, a self-described urban hippy, was reacting to what he anticipated as a shift in urban life. ‘I believed spherical homes were the future because I felt that people would gradually live with fewer possessions and in a simpler way,’ he says. ‘Cities already offer many things without the need to own them personally, so I imagined a lifestyle that is lighter – both materially and architecturally.’

Longo built his prototype between 1974 and 1979 by hand using ferrocement, moulded over a mesh of recycled steel tubes, which also formed the continuous structure of the walls, built-in furniture, light fixtures and toilets. He moved in with his wife and two children, living there until a year or so ago, when he moved back down the stairs – or the spiral escape slide, perhaps.

Despite its compact form, Longo says the 8m-diameter structure in the Itaim Bibi district was well suited to everyday family life: ‘It was simply a home – comfortable, practical, and lived in like any other.’ Bedrooms and storage spaces were in the lower part of the sphere, with the entrance, kitchen and dining spaces in the middle, and the main living areas at the top, with large windows looking out across the city.

Casa Bola defied the transparency and structural rationalism that shaped much of Brazilian modernist architecture at the time. This rebellion was part of the draw for Aberto founder Filipe Assis, who has held previous editions of the exhibition in private homes by Oscar Niemeyer, Vilanova Artigas, Tomie Ohtake and Chu Ming Silveira. ‘We wanted to find an inventive piece of counter-culture, experimental architecture, and Casa Bola was exactly that,’ says São Paulo-born Assis, who recalls how, as a child, he would often ask his parents to drive past this curious marvel on the rooftop.

Most of the works by 50 Brazilian and international artists in the fifth edition of Aberto have been specially commissioned for the exhibition. ‘Everything Eduardo created had humour to it, even the brutalist villas he designed before Casa Bola,’ explains Assis, referring to one with a chimney that is shaped like a hand making a ‘call me’ gesture. ‘Some of the artists have responded to this.’

Luiz Zerbini, for example, has painted a canvas with trippy spherical motifs and psychedelic colours, calling the work A fantástica viagem de Eduardo Longo (‘The fantastic journey of Eduardo Longo’), while other paintings by Laís Amaral, Paloma Bosquê, and Tatiana Chalhoub riff on the building’s curves and angles. A mobile sculpture by Laura Lima nods to Longo’s frequent use of found materials. ‘He was the king of improvisation,’ says Assis.

Some of the architect’s own unusual assemblages will be spread around the white interiors of Casa Bola, such as a lamp incorporating retro 3D glasses and a plant pot sprouting a ‘flower’ made from a glove, making a thumbs-up sign. ‘He didn’t intentionally make them as sculptures, but that’s what they are,’ says the Aberto founder. Aberto has also collaborated with Etel to reissue the metal chairs that Longo designed for the house, with balls for feet to stop them scratching the floor.

While visitors can explore the spherical house, most of the furniture and artworks, from galleries including Mendes Wood DM, Luisa Strina and Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, will be displayed in the gallery space in one of the Longo-designed buildings beneath. Some of his sketches, models and works – curated by Fernando Serapião – will give further insight into his mind. ‘Eduardo Longo is a rare architect who pushed his vision to the extreme, much like a visual artist, transcending the conventional boundaries of architecture,’ says Serapião.

In Longo’s imagination, the spherical modules would be used for both high-rise and long-rise buildings. ‘I was fascinated by the idea that when spherical modules are placed together, they naturally maintain separation between units. This allows air, light, and vision to pass through,’ he says.

While society may not have been ready for this reinvention of city life in the 1970s and 1980s, visitors to Aberto5 can glimpse what they’ve been missing – or what may still be to come.

Aberto5 is on show at Casa Bola, 7 March – 31 May 2026, in São Paulo, Brazil, aberto.art

A São Paulo apartment was designed to engage with its urban context, but at the same time, feel like it's 'suspended above the city'. The family home, a duplex titled ELB Apartment, centrally located within the Brazilian metropolis, occupies the top levels of an apartment building and had its interior throughout – and its top level especially – thoroughly redesigned by local Jacobsen Studio.

Explore an expansive São Paulo apartment by Jacobsen Studio

The architects worked on the two-level interior, drawing on functional arrangement – placing social areas and bedrooms on the first floor, in a more conventional single-family home layout, and bonus spaces for entertainment on the second. The home's exterior was kept unaltered to ensure the building's exterior continuity remains. Any changes concerning windows and shading were tackled internally, though the addition of bespoke shutters and curtains.

The communal areas are generous and open-plan, wrapped in warm timber cladding that envelops the interior across walls and ceilings. Jacobsen Studio's modernist architecture brand heritage (an approach also witnessed in past work, such as this low-slung residential complex) helped inform the design direction and interiors, which led to a space filled with warm and neutral colour tones and lush, soft fabrics. The main family bedrooms are also hosted on this floor.

The fully reimagined upper level contains a family room, a game room, a children's playroom, and a wine cellar. Importantly, the duplex São Paulo apartment's top area sprawls out to an expansive terrace which opens to long views of the city skyline and creates the impression of hovering just above its buildings.

The outdoors area is connected seamlessly to the interior through operable floor-to-ceiling glazing. This is framed by a prefabricated laminated wood roof and pillars, which serve as brise-soleils and light filters.

This makes the home's upper section illuminate from within like a lantern at night, marking its presence in the city – albeit a landmark softened by carefully planted greenery on the roof garden.

This presence of nature is enhanced through the material selection throughout – the palette includes the aforementioned wood, but also stone floors, a blend that feels both contemporary and timeless.

The annual Wallpaper* Design Awards issue features an honour roll of outstanding places, products and people; celebrating the power of design to lift spirits and improve lives. The City of the Year award spotlights the urban locations, making an impact in design, architecture and contemporary culture.

Discover the nominated locations below, and stay tuned for the winner, which will be announced in the next issue of Wallpaper* magazine on 8 January 2026.

Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026: City of the Year shortlist

Accra, Ghana

Ghana’s capital is entering a defining chapter, its creative momentum gathering pace after years of long-stated ambition. This year (2025), the team behind Limbo Accra established a new intellectual anchor for the city with Limbo Museum in Labone: a 600 sq m, two-storey transformation of an unfinished structure into a cultural hub, research lab and exhibition space where architecture and art converge. Across town, the opening of Dot.ateliers | Ogbojo by DeRoche Projects and TAELON7, serves as HQ for a writers’ and curators’ residency dedicated to rest, reflection and cross-continental exchange on Accra’s outskirts. Meanwhile, Lesley Lokko’s African Futures Institute (AFI) continues to evolve and push the trajectory further. And yet, as Ghanaian architect Alice Asafu-Adjaye reminds us in her Wallpaper* local’s guide to Accra, the engine of this rising power city remains its people: ‘You hear us before you see us,’ she says, whether in music, debate or conversation – a vibrancy that continues to propel Accra’s evolution.

New architecture: Backyard Community Club, by DeRoche Projects; Dot.ateliers | Ogbojo, by DeRoche Projects and TAELON7; Limbo Museum, by Limbo Accra.

Hotels and restaurants: Ghana Club; Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, by Page and Looney and Associates; La Villa Boutique Hotel; Santoku, by Hubert de Givenchy.

Cultural draws: Dikan Center, founded by photographer Paul Ninson; National Theatre, by CCTN Design; Nubuke Foundation, by Nav_s Baerbel Mueller and TAELON7.

Busan, South Korea

Newly named World Design Capital 2028, Busan is gaining momentum, using design to build on its traditions of civic resilience and cooperation. Under the banner Inclusive City, Engaged Design, the bid reflects a place intent on shaping more connected futures and deepening its cultural landscape, from the vast Eco Delta Smart City plan, a zero-energy, water-smart district built on digital urban systems, to a surge of architectural ambition now reshaping the skyline. Under construction, Kengo Kuma’s Busan Lotte Town Tower rises over the waterfront, Snøhetta’s long-awaited Busan Opera House edges toward reality, and OMA is reimagining hillside living through its Slope Housing model. Seoul may have taken our Best City award in 2024, but Busan, with its blend of ambition and intention, may well be next in line.

New architecture: Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory; Heungkuk Tower Busan, by Mecanoo; Millac The Market / LJL Architects and 2K1 Architecture.

Under construction: Busan Lotte Town Tower, by Kengo Kuma and Associates; Busan Opera House, by Snøhetta with Ilshin Architects; Busan Slope Housing, by OMA.

Hotels and restaurants: EL 16.52, by JOHO Architecture; Mogua Hotel; Sakae, by Studio Gaia.

Cultural draws: Busan Cinema Centre, by Coop Himmelb(l)au; SCRAB, by JeongChoi Works; Space Lee Ufan, by KAGA Architects & Planners.

Delhi, India

Delhi’s creative momentum is set to accelerate in 2026 with the launch of the Delhi Design District this spring. Born from the collaboration between Wallpaper* and StoneX, the cultural hub, whose facade is inspired by the Rosetta Stone, will be home to multisensory art experiences, installations shaped by various Indian dance forms, and seven galleries that reflect human emotions. Its arrival will co-exist neatly with the annual India Art Fair, hosted every February. Meanwhile, the city’s gallery landscape continues to evolve, led by long-standing heavyweights like Nature Morte alongside a widening constellation of experimental spaces. As Delhi continues to see urbanisation and population growth, its current redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station will enhance civilian connections to buses, metro and airport alongside nearby areas.

New architecture: Pendentive House, by AKDA; Yashobhoomi Convention & Exhibition Centre, by IDOM + CP Kukreja Architects.

Under construction: Central Vista Redevelopment; Delhi Design District building; New Delhi Railway Station redevelopment.

Hotels and restaurants: Call Me Ten, by Renesa Architecture Design Interiors; The Lodhi, by Kerry Hill; Zura Restaurant and Bar, by Studiio Dangg.

Cultural draws: Nature Morte; Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya, by Sikka Associates Architects; Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, by Shiv Nath Prasa.

Detroit, USA

Detroit is booming – again. Michigan Central, once a symbol of the city’s collapse, now anchors a high-energy mobility campus and sets the tone for a skyline shifting in real time. Downtown, Bedrock’s Hudson’s Detroit, designed by SHoP Architects, rises like a new marker of ambition, while the revived Book Tower blends contemporary living and culture into its restored historic shell. Neighbourhoods are keeping pace: Little Village is accelerating thanks to the Curis-led arts centre Shepherd and a flurry of creative openings, while Core City’s experimental housing and live-work compounds have turned it into a compelling urban laboratory. The numbers reinforce the sentiment: the city gained 12,500 new residents last year, and since 2011, Design Core Detroit has organised Detroit Month of Design, a yearly, city-wide festival that spotlights local creatives and projects.

New architecture: Bedrock’s Hudson’s Detroit, by SHoP Architects; Lantern complex and PASC building, by OMA.

Under construction: Stanton Yards, by SO-IL and OSD; NoMad Detroit.

Hotels and restaurants: Barda restaurant, by Undecorated; Shinola Hotel, by Gachot Studios; The Siren Hotel, by ASH NYC.

Cultural draws: Downtown Detroit and Library Street Collective, founded by Anthony and JJ Curis; Shepherd art Centre, by Peterson Rich Office.

Helsinki, Finland

As Helsinki Design Week 2025 marked its 20th anniversary, the city leaned into a question it knows well: why does the world’s happiest country stay so content? The Scandinavian nation has been designated the happiest in the world for the last eight years by the annual WEF report. The answer is arguably written across the city itself: modern yet rooted, social yet quietly reflective. Its design heritage and forward-looking attitude form a kind of civic formula, visible everywhere from a new wave of design-led hotels to its constellation of spas, singular restaurants and cultural institutions. Helsinki tends its past while engineering its future: the refreshed Finlandia Hall reasserts Aalto’s legacy, while the forthcoming Museum of Architecture and Design will unite more than 900,000 artefacts under one roof. It’s a city refining its identity with calm assurance.

New architecture: Finlandia Hall, refreshed by Arkkitehdit NRT; Lagmansgården, by Anttinen Oiva Architects.

Under construction: Museum of Architecture and Design, by JKMM.

Hotels and restaurants: Finlandia Hall Bistro, by Fyra; Finlandia Homes, featuring Alvar Aalto’s original designs; Jackie, by Joanna Laajisto; Solo Sokos Pier 4, by Anttinen Oiva Architects.

Cultural draws: House of Culture Vallikallio, by Alvar Aalto; Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, by Steven Holl; Oodi, by ALA Architects.

São Paulo, Brazil

Long considered one of Wallpaper*’s original design destinations, hard-working São Paulo is not a city that rests on its laurels. While residential projects remain a defining lure (from Studio Arthur Casas’ Pacaembu House, which won a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2024, to the confident work of established studios), large-scale regeneration is gathering pace; Planta Inc’s revival of the city’s modernist heritage signals a renewed respect for its icons, while Sol Camacho’s transformation of Pacaembu Stadium casts tropical modernism in a refreshed light. Hospitality is keeping pace, with Rosewood, Soho House and W drawing travellers hungry for the city’s creative energy. And this year’s 14th International Architecture Biennale pushed the conversation further, challenging architecture to confront climate change and the extreme events reshaping our urban future.

New architecture: Ibaté Building, by Studio Arthur Casas; Roca São Paulo Gallery, by Fernanda Marques; Pina Contemporânea Museum, by Arquitetos Associados.

Under construction: Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), by Metro Arquitetos.

Hotels and restaurants: Pulso Hotel Faria Lima, by Arthur Casas; Rosewood São Paulo, by Philippe Starck; Santokki Restaurant, by Tadu Arquitetura,

Cultural draws: Edifício Itália, by Franz Heep; Ibirapuera Auditorium, by Oscar Niemeyer; Porto Seguro Cultural Space, by São Paulo Arquitetura.

Explore the shortlist for Life-Enhancer of the Year and Launch of the Year in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026.

A private house in Valinhos, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, makes the most of a sloping site and far-reaching views thanks to designs by Fernanda Padula and Juliana Risso Arquitetura. At 640 square metres, the Casa Cedro has a long, linear plan that steps down the hillside, starting with a sunken entrance courtyard reached from a glazed hallway.

This entrance level also houses the bedrooms and home office, with the three primary suites orientated south across the garden to the lake view beyond. Guest accommodation is located adjacent to the hallway. On descending the cantilevered entrance staircase, one arrives in the main living area, a large open-plan space with a glazed sliding wall that opens up a covered outdoor space adjoining the pool.

The views are orientated towards the horizon, with service areas and staff quarters also located on this floor. The broad patio and pool run the width of the house, alongside a staircase that descends the sloping garden. Another external staircase runs alongside the house, hugging the edge of the plot.

Beneath the pool there’s a changing area, sauna and gym overlooking the garden, making the most of the steep gradient. This arrangement, which raises the pool up above the landscape as it drops away puts the water on the same level as the tree tops, inviting reflections and ‘amplifying the sense of suspension that defines the house,’ according to the architects.

The house is made from structural concrete, with shuttering patterns left exposed and contrasting with the delicate hardwood timber screens and slats that create privacy and transformation for the exterior façades in addition to adding warmth to the interiors. ‘Casa Cedro is more than a residence,’ say the architects, ‘it is an immersion into the landscape and a poetic dialogue between architecture, nature and materiality.’

Fernanda Padula & Juliana Risso, FernandaPadula.com, @fefepadula, @julianarissoarq

An upstate São Paulo house nestled on a sloped, suburban corner lot tells a story of inclusion and design ambition. The project, titled Casa MM, was conceived by Brazilian architecture firm Equipe Lamas, which worked closely with its clients – a couple wishing to live close to their daughters and grandchildren – who were after a fully accessible home with a wooden structure.

Discover Upstate São Paulo house Casa MM by Equipe Lamas

‘Casa MM begins with the residents’ wish for a single-level, welcoming home. The design looks to the cultural landscape of São José do Rio Pardo, where ceramic-tiled roofs, balanced proportions and natural materials shape a collective memory,’ explains practice founder and architect, Samuel Lamas.

‘These elements are reimagined in a contemporary way, for example, laminated eucalyptus beams spanning 16m, a gabled roof, and a palette of stone, wood and clay that echoes the city’s oldest constructions. The house extends this memory into the present, affirming both continuity with the landscape and its own contemporary identity.’

Lamas was careful to make sure the proposal did not mindlessly replicate the past, but rather created a thoughtful dialogue by being rooted in local identity. His goal is demonstrated through form, material, and a careful reinterpretation of traditional construction. The result is a light contemporary pavilion, resting on a base of São Tomé stone.

Lamas found it a challenge to work on the steeply angled corner plot as it ‘demanded a synthesis of programme and topography.’ However, with the incorporation of the stone base, the house is anchored to its site. At the same time, this gesture helped accommodate service spaces and secured the terrain. This solid-feeling foundation also creates a juxtaposition against the structural lightness of the timber pavilion atop.

The main volume sits under a gabled roof. Leading up to it, a side ramp completes the sequence and acts as a path that guides visitors to a tropical garden filled with native vegetation.

All bedrooms face north and are protected by movable freijó wood screens. They open up into a veranda with garden views. Variations in ceiling height add layers of visual intrigue to the space. The floors are finished in terrazzo, while in bedrooms, peroba wood flooring lends warmth.

The veranda, which overlooks the pool, acts as a transitional living space, merging indoor and outdoor lifestyles. ‘The veranda distils the essence of Casa MM,’ says Lamas. ‘It is both centre and threshold, where interior and exterior dissolve, where domestic life extends into the garden, and where shade, breeze and water compose an atmosphere of continuity. It embodies the meeting of tradition and modernity, transforming construction into lived experience.’ Through this space, visitors will find a bathroom to the right, a kitchen, and an office, while to the left lies a living room, two suites and the primary bedroom with a walk-in closet.

Casa MM is a fusion of comfort and a sense of place, rooted in the culture and the location that inspires it, as Lamas says: ‘The atmosphere is that of an oasis of intimacy within a residential setting. The experience conveys serenity and belonging, as if [you are] entering a place rooted in the city’s memory yet expressed in a contemporary voice.’

equipelamas.com

This is the latest instalment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper’s series spotlighting intriguing, innovative and industry-leading interior design.

It’s 2025, and designers are being tasked with creating homes for content creators – the newest subset of clientele with cash to flash and aesthetics to consider.

That was the challenge Brazilian architecture firm Gurgel D’Alfonso Arquitetura embraced when commissioned to design a home for a family of culinary content creators. The couple, who run a YouTube channel, needed a space that would integrate their family life and their work.

The result is the Fidalga Apartment, a penthouse in São Paulo’s Vila Madalena neighbourhood. In the home’s natural light and soaring ceilings, the couple saw the potential for both comfort and camera-readiness.

The first job of a renovation was to make the kitchen the anchor of the home. Walls were removed to create an open, continuous space for cooking, filming and dining. At its centre is the undeniable showstopper: an epic Vitória Régia quartzite island. Surrounding this are layers of natural materials like warm woods and stone, offset by industrial touches like stainless steel. Also vying for the attention of observers: gleaming gold brass cabinetry.

In the living room, a custom masonry bookshelf, accented with Sucupira wood, incorporates the air conditioning duct – the home is full of such clever design quirks; elsewhere, large windows and breeze block partitions significantly reduce reliance on artificial lighting. The window frames match the wood of the freestanding furniture, which comprises a mix of family heirlooms and modern design, including restored Sergio Rodrigues chairs, an armchair by Luisa Attab and side tables by Maximiliano Crovato.

Upstairs – home to the bedrooms and a home office – the architectural language shifts. It feels airier, with the exposed gabled roof enhancing ceiling height, while the decor leans softer, filled with simple forms. The office is home to a light blue epoxy floor and a Sucupira wood desk.

The primary suite revolves around a built-in central volume made from Virolinha plywood. This multifunctional unit integrates the bed, headboard, closet, TV lounge and storage, flanked by stainless steel Formica bedside modules. A carpeted base forms a step, and doubles to conceal electrical systems – another example of the home’s clean, smart detailing. Finally, the bathroom is clad in terracotta-hued ceramic tiles with a monolithic floor that flows into a concrete soaking tub.

As the lines between work and home continue to blur, our living spaces are evolving to reflect this shift. The Fidalga Apartment is a set for both daily life and on-screen action, showing that, in 2025, architecture is as much about flexibility as it is about aesthetics.

This new Brazilian design near São Paulo – JF Residence in São José do Rio Preto – is the latest project of KG Studio. Covering 600 sq m across two floors, the home is arranged across a rectangular plan with an entrance and carport at the south elevation and a north-facing garden façade.

Explore the Brazilian design of this private home: take the tour

The latter is the focal point of the house, with two ‘layers’ of living space taking up one half of the ground floor. From a modest and low-key front door to the left of the carport, visitors are led down a generous hall that leads directly to the living room. Here the house opens up to its full width, accommodating a generous dining room and island kitchen.

This interior volume is mirrored by a covered exterior living and dining space, complete with seating area, dining table and outdoor kitchen. Sliding glass doors between the two spaces allow the whole space to be opened up to the garden. From here, one steps out to the full width timber deck, which sits alongside the pool.

The accommodation is framed by two solid stone-clad walls that run the length of the house, anchoring the house to the site and increasing the sense of enclosure for the living spaces. The landscaping by Mônica Costa includes dense planting along the site boundaries to further increase the sense of privacy and retreat.

Inside, it’s another story, with the fluid inside-outside spaces and generous entertainment areas promoting ‘integration and conviviality’, according to the architects. A generous service area is also located on the ground floor, with separate access from outside and to the garden. The hall also contains the double-height stairwell, with a sleek cantilevered glass and timber staircase rising up over a small internal garden to the bedrooms on the floor above.

The first floor is set back beneath an oversailing roof, allowing for slender covered balconies at the rear. The monolithic metal panels of the garage and front door are replaced with vertical timber slats, giving the street façade a sense of calm but impervious mystery. Here you’ll find three generous en-suite bedrooms, two of which have their own balcony overlooking the garden and pool.

Throughout the house, there is extensive custom, built-in storage and furniture that preserves the lines and volume of the living spaces. Timber-clad ceilings and walls are paired with stone floors to evoke classic Brazilian architecture. These elements are paired with key pieces of contemporary design, including ‘Tonico’ armchairs by Sérgio Rodrigues and Arthur Casas’ ‘Amorfa’ coffee table. Throughout the house, lights and pendants have been supplied by Astep in Italy.

KG Studio was founded by Felipe Kilaris Gallani, following experience at Triptyque Architecture, Isay Weinfeld and Jacobsen Arquitetura, and Victória Lacerda Chaves, following her work at Estudio Campana, Arthur Casas and Bernardes Arquitetura.

The authors of this São Paulo apartment, Brazilian architect Arthur Casa and his team, are not just the brains behind its elegant interior – they also designed the entire building. Sete, a mixed-use block in São Paulo’s Vila Nova Conceição, contains private residences, including this home for a couple who wanted a base to host family and friends, and to showcase their extensive art collection.

Step inside this calming São Paulo apartment

Since 1990, the team of designers, architects and urbanists at São Paulo and NY-based Studio Arthur Casas have specialised in looking at the whole picture, creating homes and buildings that are greater than the sum of their parts – including Pacaembu House, winner of Best Urban Bolthole in the 2024 Wallpaper* Design Awards.

‘For me, designing both the core and the shell is essential. Creating the building as well as the interiors is a natural extension of the process,’ explains founder Arthur Casas. ‘When we have that continuity, we’re able to achieve harmony between scale, materiality, and function – something that is felt by those who inhabit the space, even if only intuitively.’

The Sete building is located just a few metres away from Ibirapuera Park, and despite being in the heart of a busy megalopolis, the views here are incredibly lush, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the park’s greenery.

‘Apartment Sete is housed in a building whose architecture enhances natural light, cross ventilation, and integration with its surroundings – qualities that are directly reflected in the interior design,’ says Casas. ‘One of the central elements that establishes this dialogue is the cobogó [perforated tile panels] specially designed for the building. In addition to defining the façade's appearance, it also shapes the apartment experience by filtering light, offering privacy, and establishing a clear identity.’

This backdrop and the owners’ collection of artworks are partly why the interiors have been kept so subtle. The pared-back palette means the focus here is on the choice of materials and their various textures: exposed concrete slabs and pillars are paired with Santa Margherita terrazzo floors, warm oak parquet and wood panelling and cabinetry.

‘I really appreciate the way we applied terrazzo, connecting different moments within the project,’ says Casas. ‘It appears on the flooring in the social area, climbs halfway up the corridor wall, and re-emerges in custom-designed furniture details, like the console that wraps around the sofa. This continuity between material and surface creates a visual unity that reinforces the sense of coherence we always strive for.’

From the vintage 1950s door handles to the cobogó walls that filter the natural light, every detail adds to the general scheme. Meanwhile, the carefully planned layout includes a series of interconnected social areas, ranging from a kitchen, dining room and living room to a home cinema.

Many of the designs featured here are by Casas himself, including the ‘Fusca’ sofa for Micasa, ‘Shops’ bench and ‘Bala Soft’ side table in the living room, the ‘Rino’ dining table and lighting such as the ‘Belly’ and ‘Grampo’ table lamps for Studio Objeto.

These are complemented by design classics by Jorge Zalsupin; contemporary furniture by Gubi, Zanotta and Etel; and artworks by Liuba Wolf, Robert Rauschenberg, León Ferrari, Daniel Senise and Ana Maria Tavares.

In the kitchen, discreet cabinetry conceals a complete set of Gaggenau appliances, and a cantilevered metal table is surrounded by ‘Jupiter’ stools by Johanson Design.

The serene main bedroom comes with delicate lighting and a wooden ceiling, while its en-suite bathroom features various niches and a ‘Mineral’ bathtub designed by Casa for Vallvé. Meanwhile, a pair of home offices with mirrored layouts turn into cosy spaces for the grandchildren on weekends – the low cabinets are perfect to store all their toys.

The design looks effortless, but of course there was plenty of work needed to fit everything in. ‘One of the biggest challenges of the project was reconciling the automation, air conditioning, and lighting systems in the social area, where the exposed concrete ceiling made it difficult to conceal equipment,’ write the architects. The solution was the creation of a perimeter cove that hides air-conditioning grilles and lighting fixtures without compromising the minimalist aesthetic.

arthurcasas.com

For this week’s installment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper* heads to a tree-lined neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil, to a home known as the CMK House. The house, designed by local firm Marina Salles Arquitetura e Interiores, is a masterclass in neoclassical architecture, with original design by Brazilian architect Marcos Tomanik. Salles has added contemporary decor while retaining a warm respect for the initial layout.

The result is tranquil and calming, with the integration of natural textures like linen, raw silk, leather, suede, wood and stone. The aim, however, was to balance this natural, neutral feel with distinctive design; this is not an interior that plays it safe. The entry hall, for instance, features a black-and-white chequered marble floor alongside its sand-toned walls. A suspended ‘Alva AP’ sideboard by Brazilian designers Marcelo Alvarenga and Susana Bastos also makes a statement.

In the living room, the ceramic vaulted ceilings, arched windows and preserved, reclaimed wood floor recall the heritage of the CMK House, but a clean aesthetic persists with the same sandy walls and a curated selection of furniture, artworks and decorative objects.

These include sofas from Dpot, an ‘Sertao’ side table by Gabriela Campos, a ‘Xibô’ lamp by Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues, ‘Benjamin’ armchairs (Rodrigues' final creation), a coffee table by Jacqueline Terpins, an ‘Infinito’ armchair by Lia Siqueira for Etel, and a natural-textured rug from Phenicia. Works by artists including Júlio Villani, Vik Muniz, Manabu Mabe and Hilal Sami Hilal adorn the walls, and a grand piano, a focal point for the musically inclined family that lives here, anchors the space.

Other quirky features include a wine cellar with indirect lighting in the dining room and a ceramic mosaic floor in the breakfast room, which is bathed in natural light. The dining table, which is custom-designed by Salles, features a rounded-edge top and is surrounded by ‘Beg’ chairs (also by Rodrigues) and presided over by a ‘Floatation’ pendant light by Ingo Maurer.

The library is a standout space, where existing cabinetry and boiserie panels were retained. Fireside, ‘Stella Alta’ armchairs from Rodrigues are the perfect place to curl up with a book, and we can think of few better places to work than the freijó-veneer desk, designed by Salles, in the adjacent office. Elsewhere, a former painting studio has been transformed into a music studio with navy acoustic linen panels, a striped Kilim rug and a cognac leather sofa.

Classical yet contemporary is not always an easy balance to strike, but Salles achieves it masterfully in this harmonious home, which feels at once like a country estate and a Mediterranean retreat.

Rua Polonia House sits discreetly in its leafy, residential street, a quiet haven just a stone's throw from São Paulo's bustling city centre. The home, designed by a team comprising Gabriel Kogan and Guilherme Pianca, who worked together with Clara Werneck on the project, is the neighbourhood's latest addition – offering a calm sanctuary for its residents.

Explore the secret haven of Rua Polonia House

The architecture team worked on both the building and its interiors (in collaboration on the latter with interior producer Susanna Crestani) as well as developers Mira Properties. The long and relatively narrow plot (at 42m-deep and 15m-wide) meant that the lush contemporary residence has only a hint of a presence on the street side, nodding through its minimalist architecture volume to its modern nature.

'From there, the journey through the house is structured as a sequence of framed views that emphasise the space’s frontality and depth, minimizing diagonal perspectives,' the team writes in its architecture statement.

The building was imagined as an 'infinite' grid, made up of repeating modules that make it flexible and easy to build. Each of the concrete structure's modules measures 2.90m wide and 3m high – and the home spans two storeys high in total, featuring communal spaces on the ground level and sleeping quarters upstairs.

The architects worked on a design that celebrates clarity and honesty. They explain: 'We sought to move in the opposite direction of decorative trends that seek for several layers of overlapping materials, disconnected from architectural function. In this house, we aimed to converge function, materials, and finishes. Wooden panels serve as doors or bookshelves, for example.'

'The cement floor is simply the floor itself. The glass in the frame is the window itself. The concrete is the structure itself, and so on. Even in spaces such as the bathrooms and kitchen, material choices prioritized ease of maintenance, cleanliness, and durability, minimizing arbitrary design decisions.'

Large strip openings that nod to the country's legacy of tropical modernist architecture look out to the property's leafy green garden. A gently sunken floor in the ground-level living spaces ensures users feel immersed in this verdant envelope, created by landscape designer Rodrigo Oliveira.

Yet this is not a simple repetition of or homage to past popular styles in the country. 'We brought our experience from previous projects and our studies of architecture from other countries, such as Japan, England, Switzerland, and Portugal. We believe the project represents a meeting of different architectural schools — something that the new generation of Brazilian architects, not just us, has been striving to develop,' the team explains.

'This is no longer the São Paulo School (also known as the Paulista School) as it was understood for decades, rooted in formal evolutions of modernist masters.'

@gabrielkogan

@guilhermepianca

In the beating heart of São Paulo, a touch of Italian elegance: a brand new residential development designed by Pininfarina. Within this building resides a haven of Spanish flair in the form of the Heritage apartment, a residential project designed for a couple and their young children by Andre Luque.

The Heritage apartment is both homely and modern, boasting the addition of a show-stopping view of landmarks such as the São Paulo Jockey Club and Parque do Povo. These were two of the main components of the brief given to Luque: a focus on social areas, therein creating a space that feels profoundly welcoming, and to take advantage of that horizon.

The architect achieved the former by, in short, removing walls. The social area, entrance hall, living room, game area, home theatre, dining room and social kitchen are now one, with the furniture arranged such a way as to establish a layout, with the symmetrical arrangement in the living room directing toward the centre of the space.

Additionally, the floor was levelled, creating a continuous space with the skyline stretching before it. Here we come to the second order of the brief: the frames separating the living room from the balcony were removed, and the former balcony fitted with windows that span the entire facade, un-obstructing the view.

Although the apartment is characterised by its openness, residents can, if they would like, divide the space: the entry hall features a glass-panelled door which retracts into the wall. There is also a system of automated curtains which cuts through the apartment, with the sinuous rails set on tracks recessed into the ceiling. When opened, the curtains fold into the walls, and are nearly imperceptible.

On their first meeting with Luque, the clients expressed the need to conceal the technical kitchen; the couple love to cook and regularly host guests, and therefore have both a technical kitchen for daily use and a social one with a six-metre White Nuvolato marble island at its centre. A wooden table juts out, but this isn’t the only option for dining: residents can also sit at the Amorfa table by Arthur Casas in the main dining room, which accommodates up to 12 people.

The Heritage apartment’s interiors are fluid and organic, bringing in plenty of natural elements. Curvilinear forms abound; any rigidity is relaxed and softened. Materials range from stone flooring in the social area to a three-metre-high concrete slab and walls clad in American oak, which run seamlessly into the ceilings, cabinetry and doors, creating the feeling of a pergola, plants and all.

One of the most striking features of the apartment are the plants, which appear to grow out of its very foundations. The greenery snakes up a pair of floating pillars, an original concept imagined by landscape design studio Land N Citi and landscape architect Rulian Nociti. From a technical perspective, these pillars are a feat: they are fully irrigated, with the electrical and plumbing systems necessary for this hidden within the ceiling.

The apartment’s earthy palette is complemented by the furniture, which is a celebration of all things Brazilian: there’s the EOS sofa by Patricia Anastassiadis, the Sapão armchair and Kropf side table by Fernando Mendes, the Mole armchair by Sergio Rodrigues, the Roots coffee table by Jader Almeida, and the Cúrcuma side table and lamp by Cristiana Bertolucci. The Seixo table, surrounded by June armchairs by Jader Almeida, creates a space for board games, once again lending to the objective of bringing people together. Another showpiece is a sculpture by Japanese ceramist Kimi Nii, who is based in Brazil, which consists of 12 layered ceramic pieces which form a column.

This is an apartment full of surprises and quirks. It is, above all, however, a testament to modern, flexible design, folding and unfurling into many different forms and configurations.

Something special is happening in downtown São Paulo. In post-pandemic Vila Buarque, one of the Brazilian metropolis' central neighbourhoods, some of São Paulo’s most iconic landmarks are receiving the sort of facelift that has revived the city’s love affair with the 1950s and 1960s, Brazil’s golden age of music, football and architecture.

At the centre of this urban revival is a talented team of architects, handpicked by trendsetting property developer Planta Inc, which is on a mission to restore the city’s midcentury modernist architecture icons to their previous pomp.

Planta Inc: restoring São Paulo’s modernist heritage

From their minimalist architecture offices on the 25th floor of the iconic, Franz Heep-designed skyscraper, Edifico Italia, Planta’s co-founders, landscape artist Guil Blanche and designer Aline Prado, can point to a cluster of six buildings they have refurbished in less than five years.

CEO Blanche labels Planta’s particular philosophy 'urban recycling mesmerism'. It is a kind of inner-city acupuncture undertaken together with a team of architectural talent capable of conjuring up the animal magnetism first propounded by German physician Franz Mesmer in the 18th century and the healing technique he developed: 'Mesmerism'.

According to its inventor, Mesmerism is the existence of an invisible natural force possessed by all living things, including humans, animals, and vegetables. Mesmer claimed that the force could have physical effects, including healing.

There are indisputable signs of a natural force in the beating heart of São Paulo, a megalopolis of more than 22 million inhabitants. Planta’s pilot scheme of half a dozen offices converted into apartments and studio rentals with restaurants and retail on the ground floor, has breathed new life into the Vila Buarque and Republica neighbourhoods, bringing a hip crowd of creatives to live, work and play in the city centre.

Things are looking up in Vila Buarque

The pride and joy of Planta’s first batch of 'mesmerising' buildings is Oswaldo Bratke’s Edificio Renata Sampaio Ferreira. Listed by city planners in 2012, the cobogo-fronted workspace was transformed from neglected offices next to one of the city’s late-night counter-cultural hangouts, the salubrious nightclub, Love Story, into an urban basecamp from which lovers of Brazilian architecture can easily explore the tropical modernist gems of downtown São Paulo.

Nestled in-between buildings by Oscar Niemeyer (Copan Building and Edifico Eiffel) and Rino Levi (IAB Sao Paulo headquarters), the project by Metro Arquitetos presented the task of painstakingly restoring Bratke’s 1956 masterpiece. It also introduced a pool and restaurant area that has transformed the way people enjoy the building and the surrounding neighbourhood.

Working closely with Prado, Planta’s creative director, Metro Arquitectos has created its own line of interior objects, lighting, fixtures, fittings and furniture to max out Planta’s devilish attention to detail throughout.

Gustavo Cedroni, the architecture studio's founder, says: 'There are other companies working on retrofit projects in São Paulo, but Planta really has the vision of bringing the city back to its former glory, of celebrating these wonderful buildings.' Working with retrofits of buildings originally constructed to very high standards not only makes sense from an environmental point of view but from a moral and human standpoint too, he explains.

Restoring the beauty of São Paulo’s post-war buildings, which are at the core of the city’s rich European heritage, is central to Planta’s philosophy.

'São Paulo has a very interesting and specific urban landscape in its central area,' says Blanche. 'It was mainly built right after the Second World War when great architects from Europe fled to Brazil and built some amazing modern buildings. We aim to occupy these beautiful office buildings with residences bringing more density to the central part of the city. We have three main ideas: one, building homes with less environmental impact; two, creating a more efficient city where people live close to the places they work; and three, bringing life back to these amazing buildings.'

Other structures he openly admires throughout the city include the old Hilton Hotel Building (Ipiranga Avenue, 165), Edifício Unibanco (Eusébio Matoso Avenue, 891), Maksoud Hotel (São Carlos do Pinhal, 424), Galeria Metropole w/ Edifício Metropolitano (Avenue São Luis,187) and Edifício Sumitomo (Avenue Paulista, 949).

Planta’s post-pandemic resonance

While Planta’s pioneering approach was interrupted by the pandemic, it was ultimately reinforced by the disruption, which accelerated the need for offices available in a more mixed-use capacity in the centre of the city. It has also prompted people to reimagine how they want to inhabit urban jungles like São Paulo, says Blanche.

'The pandemic heightened, for a very short period, every aspect of human life. It deeply changed the way we relate to each other, to risk-taking, and of course to cities. Now everything seems normal like before, but it is different,' he says.

'We value contact with nature more, and we treat living in cities as a way of life. Beyond the necessity, we love and hate it. We are all dedicated to making it better but we are also looking for strategies to stay away for longer periods of time. Planta is a consequence of that moment because it resonates with our previous thesis of recycling old and sub-utilised buildings.'

Working with some of São Paulo’s most talented architects on this shared mission has been a big part of Planta’s success. As well as Metro, Planta has worked with MMBB Arquitetos, Vapor Arquitetura and Andre Vainer Architects.

The team’s mesmerising (pun intended) success in attracting life back into the city's heart has been rewarded with the successful sale of five buildings to Canadian multinational Brookfield Asset Management in September 2024. As well as 95 per cent occupancy rates on Planta’s portfolio, the world’s largest impact investor was attracted to the environmental benefits of the retrofitted buildings that result in 50-75 per cent less carbon than constructing a new building from scratch.

São Paulo has more towers over 35m in height than any other city in the world, and comprises more than 40,000 buildings with a similar profile to those converted by Planta, so there’s plenty to work with. Brookfield’s funds have provided Planta with the resources needed to embark on the next phase of its ambitions to transform the city.

'We try to create a vision, a utopia. A city that is dense, with diverse people walking on beautiful sidewalks with trees and green areas everywhere, with clean water for people to use during the summer, people going in and out of good coffee shops, with programmes for every taste,' says Blanche.

City Hall is also getting on board – thanks, largely, to the success of Planta and other ambitious urban regeneration projects like Cidade Matarazzo (a listed former hospital transformed into a mixed-use complex). It has adopted new regulations that offer tax breaks to developers willing to favour recycling over new-builds.

'Brookfield is a reference for capitalists all over the world. When they bought our portfolio, they validated the quality of our retrofits, but also they indicated that there is a financial opportunity in investments that could be seen as creative and utopian. Hopefully, it will reduce the ignorance of the Brazilian market with innovation,' says Blanche.

This success has also given Planta the confidence to explore opportunities further afield, with eyes on opportunities in Rio de Janeiro and New York.

Building an A- and B-team of Brazilian architects

For its next batch of buildings, Planta is adopting a similar approach, selecting architects that have: 'respect for the use of materials, in a sense that they use only what is necessary, because that is environmentally correct; a will to create a vibrant city; respect for the past; a passion for what is possible in the future', says Blanche.

'Every building has its own "code". The combination of the architect and the existing building has to work with this code. We study the structure and each architect's body of work. Then we have a committee that votes, and usually, we have the majority voting for the same office for each commission. It's very impressive how the building itself dictates the architect,' he says.

Planta's next building, Edifcio Margarida, due for completion early in 2025, is also being refurbished by Metro Arquitectos. Located on the same street as Renata, Margarida adopts a similar approach to past projects by the developer, converting offices into short-stay apartments with the introduction of a spa and pool to entice visitors to spend more time playing than working. The successful Planta recipe is about to spring into action once more.

plantainc.com

The script for celebrated Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan’s life was written from an early age. While there have been plenty of plot twists along the way, it was clear from early on that the two main protagonists would be architecture and film. Whether it’s synchronicity, or divine direction from on high, there are a handful of formative scenes that have shaped his journey throughout the years. Sometimes tragic, sometimes comedic, always fateful.

Into the world of Marcio Kogan

The inception moment happened in 1958 when a young boy enters stage right and gets a little too close to an unsecured edge of one of the buildings going up in his hometown, São Paulo. As our young hero walks towards the urban landscape lurching upwards, as if reaching for modernity, the boy’s father grabs his hand to protect him from falling into the building works below. ‘It was at that moment that I realised I’d be an architect,’ says Kogan, recalling fondly his father’s powerful presence on his younger self.

Marcio Kogan: into the mind of the architect

In his formative years, the young boy would watch in awe as his father, Aron Kogan, the talented engineer and architect, built and designed everything in the family modernist architecture home in São Paulo. As well as ‘the house of the future’ he shared with Marcio’s mother, Kogan Senior went on to draw up plans for Brazil’s tallest building, the 51-storey office, Mirante do Vale, in 1960, before he was killed tragically a year later. The needless loss would send his nine-year-old son’s life into darkness, a broody monochrome, real-life remake of JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. ‘Holden Caulfield was my name,’ he recalls of the angst he felt in his early teenage years. ‘Constantly wandering through the streets of São Paulo, always trying to escape school, where I was probably the worst student. In the 1960s, I lived in a black-and-white world, in deep and anguishing silence.’

It’s raining in downtown São Paulo when our hero, now aged 14, enters stage right once again. One day, skipping class, Kogan dives into the rundown cinema, Bijou, on Praça Roosevelt, to seek shelter from the elements. What he saw on that fateful day would transform his life forever. Screening at Bijou was the third of Ingmar Bergman’s trilogy of films on the loss of religion and faith, The Silence.

‘I discovered in that moment that something else exists in the world, real poetry. This was a kind of epiphany,’ says Kogan about the profound impact that the chance meeting with the film’s protagonist, a perplexed ten-year-old boy, Johan, had on his life and later career. ‘It changed everything for me because I saw myself on the screen. That was the boy in the film. I identified with every element of Bergman’s film. The film in black and white, the anger, anguish, loneliness. Everything that I was feeling at that moment, or from the day my father died, until this point. When I left the movie, my life became technicolour again. This moment would be the first moment of the rest of my life.’

His father may have been responsible for his early fascination with the form and function of buildings and the possibilities of a career in architecture, but, kissed by the silver screen, it was the cinematographic creativity of filmmakers, first Bergman and later Federico Fellini, Jacques Tati, Jean-Luc Godard and Andy Warhol, that shaped the type of architect he would become.

Throughout his architectural studies at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo, and in his early twenties, he split his time between his fledgling architecture practice and making short films with his friend and kindred spirit, Isay Weinfeld. The pair produced 13 short films together between 1978-1987. It was the financial failure of their only feature-length film, Fire and Passion, in 1988 that finally forced them to quit film and focus instead on creating homes with celluloid qualities. ‘The film was a disaster,’ says Kogan. ‘It was then that I decided to be an architect 24 hours a day.’ Cinema’s loss would be architecture’s gain.

Anyone who has seen or visited one of Kogan’s panoramic palaces, stayed in one of his scenic hotels or shopped in one of his illuminated stores, will have been struck by the horizontal, cinematographic narrative running through his work. As Wallpaper’s architecture & environment director, Ellie Stathaki, writes in her essay in Studio MK27’s recently released monograph of its work, published by Rizzoli, ‘The relationship between architecture and the moving image is at the heart of the practice’s visual storytelling and world-building. Seeing architecture not as a static element but as a part of a wider universe that encompasses movement, sound and light, Studio MK27 creates designs that become inherently multi-dimensional, spaces to be felt far beyond aesthetics and the perception of a structure as a still image.’

The architect himself believes his formative foray into the world of make-believe, of lights, cameras and action, has served him well when it comes to crafting a magical world of warm, minimalist architecture. ‘I see many coincidences between architecture and cinema,’ he says. ‘They are achievements that, telling a story, have a beginning, middle and end, and must create emotion. I observe the proportions of a project to a fault as if I were looking through the lens of a widescreen movie camera. It is a cinematographic frame.’

Furthermore, he encourages creative collaboration on all of Studio MK27’s projects and has, since the studio’s opening in 1978, sought to reproduce the teamwork and multidisciplinary perspectives required to make great movies, working with as many as 50 collaborators at a time. ‘The teamwork of filmmaking created a way of working in the office that’s different from what you find elsewhere,’ he says. ‘Everyone can work on a new project with me, from an intern to the directors. In the beginning, it was a kind of chaos, but now it works very well.’

All Studio MK27 works kick off with a brainstorming session that seeks to identify the ‘philosophy of the project’ and ends with credits rolling for everyone involved. Multiple teams are often formed to work on different solutions and later convene to compare and work together to select the best approach. In the conceptual stage, Kogan often immerses himself in a new project by throwing himself like a method actor into the role of a protagonist enjoying (or often not enjoying) the house in the future.

He has envisioned his work from the perspective of a bird complaining to the architect about the death of one of his flock, bees trampled underfoot by clumsy architects, or a cat exploring the liminal spaces created by his intelligent blurring of interior and exterior spaces. He often finds himself fielding imaginary complaints from angry clients as part of his method of troubleshooting his way to perfection. Many of these internal conversations and characters reveal insights that are incorporated into the work. Some have later featured in the short films the studio now produces to showcase its projects or to contextualise the sumptuous furniture lines produced for Italian manufacturer Minotti.

Almost 50 years after Bergman’s The Silence first brought colour back into the life of our 14-year-old hero, it returned once again to speak to Kogan as a 67-year-old professor in Milan. In 2018, he set a task to one of the workshops he produces with his long-time collaborator, Filippo Bricolo, and received a remarkable response from one student, Vladimir Boaghe, who reached deep into the soul of our young protagonist(s) – Johan and Marcio – to produce a book comparing cinema and architecture, and comparing The Silence and Marcio Kogan.

In the book, the student paired scenes from Bergman’s movie with elements of Kogan’s architecture to draw a creative arc through his remarkable body of work back to his chance discovery of the silver screen. ‘When you are a teacher or professor, sometimes you don’t just want to transfer your knowledge to the student but to learn something, too,’ says Kogan. ‘This is the most perfect example. It’s not so easy to give a very clever gift. This one I needed maybe one hour to understand the power of it. It’s like looking into yourself.’

While Johan is present in many of the images from Bergman’s masterpiece, it’s easy to imagine a young Kogan in the other frames, pointing his toy gun at the scenes and imaginary characters cast in his architecture. The subliminal pairings of the book led to a profound reflection by Kogan, sparking the creative inspiration for the pages he has curated for his guest editorship of Wallpaper*, as well as the desire to use filmmaking to present the studio’s work to the world.

Alongside images selected by Boaghe, Kogan and his team have chosen stills from short films and photography of Studio MK27’s works that tally with those of his other filmmaking heroes, Jacques Tati and Jean-Luc Godard. Together, they provide a revealing insight into half a century of carefully choreographed coincidences playing out between Studio MK27’s two leading actors – filmmaking and architecture.

Film and architecture: through the lens of Marcio Kogan

In his section of Wallpaper’s October 2024 issue, guest editor Marcio Kogan paired film stills from some of his favourite movies with photography from his own work, highlighting the subliminal connections in his way of working and the duality of film and architecture in his approach.

Screening 1: The Silence, directed by Ingmar Bergman (1963)

When, in a moment of unadulterated synchronicity, a 14-year-old Marcio Kogan discovered the moody black-and-white feature film, The Silence, directed by Ingmar Bergman, it changed everything for him. That fateful matinee transported the brooding teenager from a dark place, still grieving the loss of his father, to a technicolour world of art and poetry.

‘In the case of Bergman, it was my life at that moment,’ says the architect of his discovery of the Swedish director’s work and his immediate identification with one of the film’s main characters. ‘After I saw his movie, I belonged once again to humanity in that, for me, it gives me a sense of art, this is what I can see, that there is poetry. This is what attracts me to his films,’ says Kogan.

Released in 1963, The Silence tells the story of a ten-year-old boy, Johan, travelling through a fictional European country in the aftermath of the Second World War with his mother, Anna, and her sister, Ester. It is the last film in a trilogy by Bergman that the director says was his way of celebrating the ‘saving force of love’.

‘My basic concern in making the trilogy was to dramatise the all-importance of communication, of the capacity for feeling,’ he later said about the three films, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence. ‘They are not concerned – as many critics have theorised – with God or his absence, but with the saving force of love. Most of the people in these films are dead, completely dead. They don’t know how to love or feel any emotions. They are lost because they can’t reach out to anyone outside of themselves.’ The work of the child actor that plays Johan – Carl Jörgen Lindström, who was born less than a year before the architect – spoke deeply to Kogan.

In a book gifted to the architect by his student Vladimir Boaghe in 2018, the latter explores the depth of the film’s impact on Kogan by pairing scenes from it with details from the architecture of Studio MK27. ‘How can such a state of mind be an inspiration for spaces so full of joy and life as the houses he designs?’ says Boaghe. ‘This analysis tries to highlight the strong connection between the projects and the framing, the lights and the gestures we can find in the movie, pointing out the evident quotes and the unconscious influences we can recognise in his works and in the way he shows them.’

The title of the publication, Hadiak, refers to the last word of the film uttered by the child protagonist, which in Bergman’s fictitious language translates to ‘soul’, something that Boaghe argues is a ‘constant presence in his projects and what really characterises Kogan’.

Screening 2: Playtime, directed by Jacques Tati (1967)

The comic escapades of Monsieur Hulot, played by Jacques Tati himself, revolve around struggles with technology and the daily problems of living in an increasingly complex world shaped by modern architecture. The French director’s films are among Kogan’s favourites, even though he disagrees strongly with Tati’s view that ‘geometrical lines do not produce likeable people’, the modernist Villa Arpel in Mon Oncle evoking fond memories of the house his father built for the family in São Paulo.

‘Sometimes I think Tati copied my father’s project. Both houses had a lot of electronics; my father decided at the same time to create a house of the future. It was a radical project, but not everything worked. My father decided to design everything, from the tables to the art and the architectural project itself. And, of course, this kind of thing, when you are created in this environment, it influences you a lot.’ And while there are references in his work to Villa Arpel, Kogan does everything he can to avoid the impracticality of dedication to superficial aesthetics and gadgets over the necessities of daily living.

Perhaps Kogan’s favourite film, Playtime, is another that pokes fun at the French modernist architects that shaped much of the built environment in the 20th century. For the 1967 release, Tati constructed a modernist Parisienne quarter as a movie set and shot it on 70mm film stock at great expense. While there are plenty of references to Tati’s architectural aesthetic, in Kogan’s work, once again, it’s the mutual sense of humour that brings him back to the film so frequently.

‘We shared a way of seeing the world through critical humour. In architectural thought, maybe we’re on opposite teams, but this doesn’t matter. What matters is life, as our architect Oscar Niemeyer said.’

Rewatching the opening night of the restaurant unravel in Playtime brings outboth his obsession and sense of fun, he admits. ‘There is one moment in the film that I think happened every week with me,’ he says. ‘It’s the scene where he’s visiting a family in the glass apartment where you can see what’s going on inside. He leaves the family, says goodbye, and 30 minutes later, when the owner of the apartment goes to walk the dog, he’s still stood there because he cannot find the button to open the door. This kind of thing always happened in São Paulo.’

Alas, for someone with such a strong sense of humour, there’s arguably not a lot of room for comedy in architecture. The only humorous piece he can think of in Studio MK27s body of work is the cement apparently dripping from the façade of his first project, the firm’s offices built in the Cerqueira César neighbourhood of São Paulo in 1978. ‘I mean, people want something serious when it comes to building their dream home,’ he says. ‘It’s very expensive to be funny.’

Screening 3: Le Mepris, directed by Jean-Luc Godard (1963)

Based on Alberto Moravia’s 1954 novel II Disprezzo (A Ghost at Noon), Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 movie, starring Jack Palance and Brigitte Bardot, is set against a remarkable Italian backdrop.

A terribly sad story of the loss of love, the film was made largely in the Capri landmark, Casa Malaparte.

The film has been interpreted as Godard’s own reflection on the death of cinema, the start of the end for a golden era in filmmaking.

‘This house is incredible. It wasn’t designed by an architect. It was designedby a poet,’ says Kogan.

‘I think it’s always the relationship with water, maybe with thesea. I think this and you have empty space, big windows and a stronger relationshipwith the view on this kind of film. It’s very much related to our project in Paraty.’

mk27.com

For the past 25 years, São Paulo, Brazil, has had less than a handful of hotels that could capture the imaginations of discerning global travellers, despite its sheer scale and sophistication as a gateway market – but this is finally changing.

The city is experiencing a boom in luxury hospitality – as recently witnessed with the opening of Soho House São Paulo – and residential development after an ambitious, years-long expansion of its subway system and corresponding changes to local zoning laws. The new regulations dramatically increase density around its new stations to help ease the infamous traffic problem and create vibrant, pedestrian-friendly high streets in a city that often hides its best behind walls and security gates.

Pulso Hotel, São Paulo

In the well-known neighbourhood of Pinheiros, São Paulo-based hotelier and developer Otavio Suriani has taken advantage of the changes to create the new 57-room Pulso Hotel, a throwback to the early days of boutique hotels that the city missed out on over the past two decades-plus. Suriani employed a time-honoured strategy, hiring a star architect, partnering with a top local restaurateur, and assembling an impressive group of experts to focus on their respective aspects of the project. The goal? To create a unique guest experience reflecting the city’s soul.

Local architect Arthur Casas designed an impressive, contemporary tower that cleverly folds the hotel and luxury residences into an oddly shaped site defined by only three streets. To highlight the hotel entrance along Henrique Monteiro Street, he tapped São Paulo-based landscape architect André Paoliello, who used the building’s generous 9m setback to create a series of micro forests planted with native ipé trees and large, dramatic Brazilian Monstera Deliciosa plants. These clusters provide the curb appeal that new city regulations require and serve as a design feature both outside and indoors.

Inside the long, light-filled hotel lobby, floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows make the tropical flora outside omnipresent and showcase another garden on the opposite side of the space, part of an interior courtyard that is open to the sky and features a subtle yet large-scale installation by contemporary Brazilian artist and writer Nuno Ramos, Mácula (1994). The accents of green over Casas’ minimal, tone-on-tone scheme of rich, natural materials are applied in elegant continuity across the public spaces and amenity areas and, above the trees, in the guestrooms, where green marble, leather and hand-woven bed throws carry the concept.

A well-curated mix of furniture pieces by master designers past and present, foreign and domestic – count Arthur Casas among them – are also featured throughout the property. Warren Platner’s namesake armchair stands out among the group, striking a commanding presence at the elegant lobby bar and beyond in Bistrô Charlô, the hotel’s centrepiece restaurant.

Bistrô Charlô has been a São Paulo institution for the past 35 years, so when renowned restauranteur Charlô Whately agreed to move his storied French bistro into the Pulso, it was something of a coup for Suriani. It was an opportunity for Whately to launch a new era in his storied career and his first bakery, Cha Cha Boulangerie, at the opposite end of the hotel lobby. Both have launched (to great success), full of Whatley’s devotees, hotel guests, and area residents from morning to night – and even past midnight, when Whatley provides a decadent bar menu at Sarau Bar, the exclusive lounge requisite in every stylish boutique property.

The intimate, 30-seat bar and live music venue sits at the hotel’s heart and is dedicated to Brazilian music in all its beautiful breadth and depth. ‘We wanted to create a place where guests and locals could get in touch with the local sound through bands and DJs,’ said Suriani. ‘It’s my favourite part of the hotel.’ He hired famous São Paulo-based music producer Rômulo Fróes to curate the live programme, and when the stage is dark, top local DJ Victor Kurc handpicks the music for what might be the city’s first proper listening room. Of course, Sarau Bar wouldn’t work without Gabriel Santana, who is considered by many to be the best mixologist in the country.

It all adds up at the Pulso Hotel, where Otavio Suriani and his talented group of Paulista collaborators have created the new boutique hotel that São Paulo should have had long ago. It’s a property born of the city’s recent progress but reflects a long cultural legacy.

Find Pulso Hotel at 154 R. Henrique Monteiro, São Paulo, Brazil, pulsohotel.com

When Bloco Arquitetos was called upon for a modernist São Paulo apartment renovation, the practice jumped at the opportunity. Based in Brasília, the studio was founded by Daniel Mangabeira, Henrique Coutinho and Matheus Seco. As well as designing sleek pieces of contemporary architecture such as the Casa do Tijolos Brancos, the trio has a keen interest in the history and legacy of their home town, and their country's acclaimed architectural heritage.

So it’s no surprise the team found appeal in the historic 230 sq m apartment in the Higienópolis district of the Brazilian metropolis, an upmarket area rich in architectural treasures, from shining examples of paulistano art deco designs to modernist tower blocks.

Tour this revived modernist São Paulo apartment

The apartment in question is situated in a building by modernist architecture representative Rubens Camargo de Monteiro, a tower block located just around the corner from the Museu de Arte Brasileira, itself full of midcentury treasures. The property had a handful of striking original features, including a solid ipê wood parquet floor laid in a double herringbone pattern, which the team preserved and restored.

'Rubens de Monteiro worked in São Paulo during the 1950s and 1960s,' explain the architects. 'His Cuiabá building, where this apartment is located, was completed in the early 1960s in Higienópolis. He was also part of the team of architects that were involved in the construction of one of Oscar Niemeyer's most important works in São Paulo, the OCA exhibition hall at the Ibirapuera Park. He was one of the partners of the construction company that built it.'

The architects also peeled back some of the layers accumulated over the years: the plaster on the perimeter walls was removed to expose the original solid brick, while a thin concrete ceiling was carefully taken down to reveal a series of structural beams that were incorporated into the interior design.

‘Undoubtedly, the ceiling is our favourite element in this project,' say the architects. 'The beautiful structure was originally hidden by a thin layer of concrete that had no structural function. It worked like a suspended ceiling. We removed the thin slab so we could expose the beautiful sequence of parallel beams that form the ceiling structure.'

Having capitalised on the property’s original features, the architects then focused on rethinking the existing layout to accommodate contemporary family life. The key element of their brief included increasing the reception space and better connecting the kitchen with the dining room.

To do so they reconfigured the original, compartmentalised layout, which had a pantry between the kitchen and the living room, a small service bathroom, a single suite, and a central vestibule. The architects removed the pantry to create a TV room and larger kitchen, connected to the dining room by sliding doors and complete with new terrazzo flooring. They also created a larger suite by combining two existing bedrooms.

The new interiors were furnished with the owner’s existing collection of contemporary art and Brazilian design, including ‘Mole’ and ‘Oscar’ armchairs and the ‘Mocho’ bench by Sérgio Rodrigues; the ‘Jangada’ armchair by Jean Gillon; and the ‘Pétala’ coffee table and ‘Onda’ bench designed by Jorge Zalszupin.

These were combined with newly acquired pieces, such as a ‘Geometric’ dining table and ‘Composé’ sofa by Cremme, ‘Moss’ dining chairs by Punto Mobile, and an ‘Icon’ shelf by Jader Almeida.

Although Bloco Arquitetos is based in Brasília, Brazil's modernist capital, it is expanding its operations to other cities and abroad. 'We are currently finishing a house in Bahia, Brazil, which was entirely designed using glued laminated wood structure,' say the trio. 'At the same time, we have finished a house project in New Jersey, USA, and we are currently developing a house in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. We mainly work on residential projects, but we have also finished the interior design of a Hilton hotel in the state of São Paulo and some office spaces in São Paulo city itself.'

bloco.arq.br

Soho House has opened its first foothold in South America, occupying a historic corner of Brazil’s mega-metropolis São Paulo. The latest outpost for the UK-based members’ club (with outposts from New York to Mumbai) is no less than the city’s most ambitious cultural hub, Cidade Matarazzo – two newly developed blocks of hospitality, retail, wellness, offices and cultural spaces shaped from ten buildings that served as a hospital for most of the 20th century.

Soho House São Paulo

The familiar Soho House format integrates effortlessly into Cidade Matarazzo’s 100-year heritage. The latest evolution of Nick Jones’ original creative coworking concept undoubtedly brings some international allure to Brazil’s business capital at a time when the world’s eighth-largest economy is rediscovering some of the brio that made it one of the hottest investment locations in the world at the turn of the last decade.

The house’s 32 bedrooms, cosy sitting rooms, lounges and games room wrap themselves around a central patio – an integral part of Matarazzo’s Italianate architecture – embracing the arched windows and scalloped balconies throughout to let light flood the space. The brand’s well-oiled design team, steered on this occasion by Danielle Vourals, has enrolled support from a glittering cast of Brazilian furniture designers and contemporary artists to adapt Soho House’s signature interior style to Brazil’s exuberant, tropical culture.

The delicate details and patterns of the hand-painted tiles by Ceramica Antigua, along with marble surfaces, and hand-blown lamps by Espaço Zero that light up the bathrooms, highlight the insouciance of the untouched walls, which put the scars of the former hospital on full display. Contemporary artworks by a collection of 60 artists born, based, or trained in Brazil add plenty of colour and humour to the building’s colonial skeleton.

Playful works, including a mural for leg lovers conceptualised by Marcelo Cipis and other colourful works by the likes of Alexandre Da Cunha, Antonio Tarsis, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Jaime Lauriano, Larissa de Souza, Leda Catunda, Paulo Nimer Pjota, Marina Perez Simão, Nazareth Pacheco and Yuli Yamagata, span the main bar. Meanwhile, hardwood cabinets and comfy armchairs are courtesy of a dozen celebrated Brazilian furniture designers.

Lounges boast midcentury modern Brazilian armchairs by Sergio Rodrigues, Jean Gallon, Jorge Zalszupin and Percival Lafer, which make for the most comfortable of caipiriña-fuelled journeys back through Brazil’s rich cultural history to Matarazzo’s 1904 origin. The floors and the eaves upstairs use reclaimed wood rescued from the hospital. Similarly, the 1960s geometric patterned floors in the rooms and suites are made from Canela wood, reclaimed from abandoned barns in south Brazil.

More than 10,000 native plant species have been introduced or preserved throughout the property, including a handful of 200-year-old trees that stretch back in time beyond the vertiginous rise of São Paulo’s urban jungle, pumping oxygen into the space and creating a lush link to Brazil’s brilliant biodiversity. A bar and pool area on the roof and a gym with exercise rooms are scheduled to open on the upper floors of adjacent buildings later this year.

Soho House São Paulo is located at R. São Carlos do Pinhal, 764 - Bela Vista, São Paulo, 01332-000, Brazil, sohohouse.com

When Marilia Pellegrini was commissioned to design Casa das Palmeiras, the aim was to create an ultimate urban sanctuary – a private residence inspired by modernist architecture that brings a sense of serenity, nature and seclusion within the folds of the bustling metropolis of São Paulo. The result does not disappoint, as this new home in the suburban enclave of Alphaville feels like stepping inside a green retreat, leaving the city's hustle and bustle at the door.

Explore Casa das Palmeiras by Marilia Pellegrini

Casa das Palmeiras' low-lying, discreet volume, slightly sunken into the ground, is almost entirely concealed from the street, turning its back to it while opening up towards an expansive paved courtyard, swimming pool and garden to the rear. Framed by native planting and tall, mature palm trees that inspired its name ('palmeira' being 'palm tree' in Portuguese), it is a home that invites visitors to step inside and discover it.

Beyond the seemingly opaque street-facing exterior, Pellegrini and her team worked with open, flowing interiors and swathes of glazed and open-air sections that effortlessly bring the outside in. At the same time, curves and round openings in the volume's surfaces add a sense of fluidity and highlight the relationship with the outdoors further.

'This residence embodies the balance between luxury, comfort and respect for nature,' says Pellegrini. 'The creative process with freehand drawing to investigate the curves gave rise to the unique architectural project. Starting from the imperial palm trees already present on the land, the residence was designed to blend harmoniously with its surrounding nature. The modernist-inspired canopy worked around the palm trees creates a fusion between the interior and exterior environment.'

The landscaping, created by designer Renata Tilli, is beautifully complemented through its juxtaposition with the architecture's pared-down surfaces. Natural light permeates throughout and softly falls on a palette of tactile materials, such as beige limestone, light-coloured wood and soft stone.

Meanwhile, the furniture and product selection within offers a mix of 20th-century furniture from the client's collection, featuring modernist pieces by Marcel Breuer, Achille Castiglioni and Charles & Ray Eames to Sergio Rodrigues. This is blended with pieces by bold contemporary creatives such as De Sede.

The interiors contain four bedroom suites, a guest bathroom, a gym and an expansive living area that encompasses seating, dining, and entertaining.

'Although this house was designed at the height of the pandemic, we had time and a lot of inspiration during the period of isolation. This project was born from a watercolour and, when presented to the clients, it was like a work of art; approved without any retouching,' Pellegrini recalls.

mariliapellegrini.com

Brazilian home expert Jacobsen Arquitetura builds spectacular residences in dialogue with nature, which have won it many fans – us included. Drawing on the country’s modernist heritage, its sprawling villas pepper the countryside surrounding São Paulo. We loved its MJE House and its bold cantilever, so we were excited to discover its latest project, a private home in Porto Feliz, about two hours' drive from the country’s business capital.

MS Residence: a Brazilian home tour

Known as the MS Residence, this 1,280 sq m house was initially planned as a holiday home, but its clients, a couple with a daughter, decided to make it their main home during the project’s development. ‘It was a project that we developed with great freedom,’ say its architects, Jacobsen Arquitetura, a practice that was founded in Rio de Janeiro by Paulo and Bernardo Jacobsen and now also has offices in São Paulo and Lisbon.

‘We realised that it would be more appropriate to elevate the residence in relation to the ground, in order to enhance the view, improve natural ventilation and sunlight,’ they explain. ‘Furthermore, this elevation strategy would guarantee greater visual amplitude for the residence, given the house's context, between a side slope and a huge flat area where a polo field is located.’

The house includes two floors with five suites, a home theatre, indoor and outdoor dining and cooking areas, as well as a wine cellar, sauna, and swimming pool. Most striking is the balcony, which runs all around the first floor, connecting the living areas with the stunning countryside views.

‘The structural design of the house was a great challenge, considering that at each end of the project we have areas with a water mirror and a continuous swimming pool,’ explain the architects, who decided on using a glued laminated wood structure for the first-floor living areas, and a metal frame for the rest.

Finishes include São Gabriel granite, used as internal and external flooring as well as on the façades. Inside, the rooms are clad in freijó wood, which is also used to create privacy screens and brise-soleils throughout the house. A particular attention to lighting, including bespoke pieces, was needed to complement the wooden grid structure that tops the living areas and balconies.

Furnishings include a ‘Papir’ sofa, part of the architects’ debut furniture collection, as well as a wide variety of Brazilian furniture. ‘The solid wood armchairs present in the garden next to the fire pit were developed with the Brazilian studio Pedro Petry,’ say the architects. 

Also featured are artworks by Vik Muniz, a ‘Mole’ armchair by Sérgio Rodrigues, and ‘Stand By’ armchair by Claudia Moreira Salles.

jacobsenarquitetura.com

Escaping the hustle and bustle of São Paulo for the weekend is a way of life in the Brazilian megalopolis, not just for the wealthy, but for a large portion of the middle-class too, as many regularly make the two- or three-hour trek to second homes in the rolling countryside outside of the city or on the stunning beaches of the Litoral Paulista. But for Brazilian architect Arthur Casas’ latest project, Pacaembu House, the client wanted something very different. 

‘I only want one house. Not two. I’m not driving anywhere for the weekend. I want to stay home and host all of my kids and our friends here, together, but with plenty of different spaces for the individual groups among us to gather. I want a house that is a home for all of us,’ the client told Casas. The latter’s response? ‘It was an interesting challenge, not just because of the brief. The site is complicated. It is located on a hillside, dropping seven metres from top to bottom, but that allowed us to do something special. We were able to create a real sanctuary with amazing views.’ 

Pacaembu House: a primary residence designed as an escape

The entrance to Pacaembu House sits on a charming cul-du-sac in its namesake neighbourhood, set back from a tall perimeter wall, itself elegantly executed, accented with rebar and climbing trepadeira vines that are seemingly requisite in the city. The wall yields just a hint of the architecture behind, and inside, a lush entry garden offers a preview of Luiz Carlos Orsini’s stunning tropical landscaping to come. 

The entrance foyer, flush with natural light from a skylight above, sits at the landing of two staircases – one leading upstairs to bedrooms and an apartment suite, and the other heading downstairs to much more. Here, it becomes clear that the home spills elegantly downhill, unfolding over its terraced site with a single, monolithic, large volume perched above. In this small reception area, an expansive plate-glass wall showcases an interior garden that runs the length of the stairwell and is accessible from the living room. A geometric steel and glass sculpture by artist Tulio Pinto, sitting in beautiful juxtaposition to the organic shapes of the flora, is the centrepiece of this lush vignette, one of many on the property.

The home’s large, voluminous, loft-style living area is a masterclass in bringing a neutral, tonal scheme to life with tactile and visual texture, incorporating marble, natural linen, leather, suede, bouclé cotton, and wool. The poured-in-place concrete walls are built using forms custom designed by Casas to ‘leave an impression’ – and that, they do. When warmly up-lit, they look like a work of art. The sitting area features a collection of classic and contemporary pieces by famous Brazilian designers, Arthur Casas included – think, Sergio Rodrigues’ ‘Tonico’ lounge chairs, ‘Quebra Galho’ armchairs by Marcelo Magalhães, Casas’ ‘Fusca’ sofas, and four massive ‘Tiles AM’ coffee tables. 

A secondary, more intimate sitting area provides separation from another staircase and the formal dining room on the other side. This, smaller, living space is situated between a long, low console made of brown marble, built into one of the house’s columns and an integrated curio cabinet featuring a propane fireplace. Here, sits a Steinway piano, another ‘Fusca’ sofa and a pair of ‘Poltrona F’ chairs by Zanine Caldas, opposite Casas’ nesting ‘Arquipelago’ coffee tables. Underpinning it all is a Nani Chinellato rug so expansive that it had to be assembled on-site from multiple pieces weighing two tons in total.

The dining room furnishings are all by Casas, featuring the ‘Amorpha Jumbo’ dining table and 12 ‘Max’ dining chairs, which ground the ‘Amorpha’ chandelier that casts light upward to the ceiling clad in European white oak. Telescoping glass doors create a permeable boundary between the living space and the main terrace outside, a luxury afforded by the pleasant sub-tropical climate of the region. 

The sheltered outdoor terrace is configured for hosting multiple groups at the same time. The outdoor kitchen is well-equipped for cooking and entertaining, adjacent to several different living areas, all conceived for dining and lounging by the various factions of the family and their friends. These are accented by another vignette of tropical plants integrated into the terrace. Just beyond this leafy patch is a large, state-of-the-art gym, a massage room, two saunas, and a dedicated kids’ play area.

Only when looking back from the rear garden lawn, beyond the stunning swimming pool, does one get a full perspective on the house, with its wide, horizontal poured-in-place concrete box perched delicately above the main terrace on lateral retaining walls. The façade’s dramatic wooden shutters make a modern design statement and also serve the sleeping areas within, adjusting automatically with the movement of the sun to ensure maximum comfort and energy efficiency. They eventually close to create a shear wood-clad wall contrasting the large glass window that shares the facade in perfect proportion. 

This top volume features its own landscaped rooftop garden and sitting area above, but still, the house doesn’t appear as large as its expansive 1,500 sq m really is. Much of its overall area is nestled within the hill, making room for additional amenities like a music room, a hair salon, a wine cellar, an eight-car garage, and various service areas. The elevator, the main kitchen and other support facilities, including staff quarters, are also encompassed into the site and discreetly tucked away behind operable wall panels, always out of sight. Everything feels bright, illuminated by a well-conceived collection of light wells, skylights, and even glass flooring within the pool, adding drama to the spaces below. 

In the opposite direction, descending a charming outdoor stairway framed by more leafy foliage, an al fresco sitting area unfolds. It features an outdoor fireplace ringed with ‘Asturias’ lounge chairs by Brazilian designer Carlos Motta, native trees and plants, and a koi pond. Behind it, another terrace, situated under the pool deck, features one more outdoor kitchen and bar composition, alongside dining and lounge sections wrapped in integrated greenery. A bonus, standalone bedroom suite with a semi-private patio beyond provides yet another area for relaxation - all within the confines of the rough stone perimeter walls. 

Despite the project’s deceptively large scale, Pacaembu House is very much a warm home. Here, daily life feels like a holiday for the owners, their family and friends – and it doesn't require a commute through traffic. Together with Casas, they may have started a new lifestyle trend.

arthurcasas.com 

A version of this article appears in the February 2024 issue of Wallpaper* – dedicated to the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024 – available in print from 4 January, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Roca São Paulo Gallery, the design-led bathroom products manufacturer's new creative home in Brazil, has just launched in the prestigious Avenida Brasil. The space, designed by local architect Fernanda Marques, was conceived to foster conversation and imagination, and is the latest in a series of similar brand outposts for Roca across the world, including Barcelona and Madrid (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), London (England), Shanghai and Beijing (China). 

Roca São Paulo Gallery: a nod to the Atlantic Forest

The architecture of the new Roca São Paulo Gallery takes its inspiration from the Atlantic Forest. Marques taps into her arsenal of minimalist, contemporary forms (past works have included striking residential work such as Casa Jabuticaba), and adds a nod to the natural world, through her use of materials and the relationship she crafts between interiors and exteriors. 

'The invitation to design the Roca São Paulo Gallery was a great honour and imposed a series of responsibilities on me in a very positive way. It meant having the opportunity to leave my mark on a project that invades the urban dimension, combining architecture, design, innovation and sustainability. It was also an opportunity to share my creative vision for a significant space in the city and to contribute to the promotion of knowledge and the meeting of professionals in my field. For all these reasons, it has inspired me to continue striving for excellence in my life and career,' says the architect.

Landscape designer Alex Hanazaki is behind the artful gardens and planted terraces throughout, reinforcing this bond with nature. Meanwhile curated furniture by Marques makes for an elegant and functionally flexible space, and includes some of the architect's own designs – the ‘Serras’ coffee table and the ‘Infinito’ bench. 

roca.com 

fernandamarques.com.br 

A substantial São Paulo home, Casa Cumaru, offers a residential oasis in its rectangular urban corner plot. To achieve the project's extended program – covering 1,275 sq m - FGMF Arquitetos has elevated the living spaces above an open, glassy ground floor, with the main bedroom spaces shielded from view by a large, dynamic steel-framed wooden screen. 

Casa Cumaru: a Sao Paulo residential oasis

This upper floor contains four bedroom suites and is suspended off a steel structure, which in turn is supported by four large concrete pillars. The living spaces are supplemented by the 22m long shade, with its large movable wooden shutters. 

The house gets its name from the Cumaru cladding using throughout. This strong, dark Brazilian hardwood gives the entire structure a warm character, and pairs with the rusted metal of the structural steels. Elevating the main space enabled the architects to do away with any distinct barriers between indoor and outdoor.

The ground floor is entirely glazed, with landscaping appearing to come right into the plan. A semi-sunken basement houses the garage and service areas, while the kitchen and living room occupy the ground floor, with direct access onto the pool deck. Suspended above this deck, in a glass box lined with roller blinds, is a home theatre. 

‘The lightness and transparency of the house allows total integration between inside and outside, between the building and the landscaping,’ say the architects, ‘There is no clear boundary between the built and the natural area, the plants sometimes invade the house, sometimes they are only separated from the internal areas by light glass panels.’

Set up by Fernando Forte, Lourenço Gimenes and Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz, FGMF Arquitetos have shaped a number of stunning contemporary houses in Brazil over the last two decades. Casa Cumaru illustrates their commitment to treating each house as a singular, self-contained space, defined by materials and structure. 

FGMF.com.br

Bottega Veneta’s ‘The Square’ is an ongoing cultural series which sees the Italian house temporarily decamp to locations around the world for multidisciplinary events that ‘inspire curiosity and dialogue’ while championing its pillars of ‘craft, creativity, and self-expression’. Inaugurated by current creative director Matthieu Blazy and in part inspired by the idea of a town square, previous editions have taken place in Dubai and Tokyo.

The latest arrives this month (May 2023) in São Paulo, Brazil, promising a genre-spanning celebration of Brazilian culture. This time, the custom square-shaped structures of the previous cities are replaced with Casa de Vidro, a landmark modernist home by Italy-born architect Lina Bo Bardi. Set amid a lush landscape – the structure was first built in Mata Atlantica, the original rainforest surrounding the city which is now one of its most exclusive neighbourhoods – it is recognisable for its stilted structure which allows the main glass-roomed space to hover amid the trees. ‘Casa de Vidro is one of my favourite places,’ says Blazy, who notes that the project also marks Bottega Veneta’s ten-year anniversary in the country.

Bottega Veneta’s The Square São Paulo 

Not just the setting, Bo Bardi also provides inspiration for the programme, which focuses on her interaction with Brazilian culture – the country she moved to in 1946, and where she continued to live and work for the rest of her life (she died aged 77 in São Paulo in 1992). She became one of the leading figures in Brazilian modernism, best known for her projects in the fields of design and architecture but also a vivid and expressive writer and thinker. She co-founded art magazine Habitat and saw her work through a deeply political lens; creating at the intersection of modernity of tradition, she sought to dismantle the typical hierarchies of the mediums in which she worked. A 1969 exhibition curated by Bo Bardi at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) was titled ‘The Hand of the Brazilian People‘ and displayed anonymously made works that spanned furniture, textiles, machinery and tools, elevating them to museum-worthy objects. MASP recently described it as ‘a radical gesture of decolonisation’.

‘From the modernist project to her embrace of the power of Brazilian popular culture and collaboration with the counterculture, Lina challenged norms and developed ideas that crossed chronological time like arrows and are, today, an essential perspective of Brazilian identity,’ says The Square São Paulo curator Mari Stockler. ‘With The Square São Paulo, we dive into her revolutionary thinking. The event is designed as a dialogue. We provoke time by contrasting Lina’s objects with works by modern and contemporary artists in an exchange between past, present, and possible futures.’

As such, the programme (running until 3 June 2023) includes a vast array of Brazilian creatives, including musical artists Arnaldo Antunes, Vivian Caccuri and Alaíde Costa, visual artists Luiz Zerbini, Carlito Carvalhosa and Rosana Paulino, and poet Ricardo Aleixo, among several others. Works by Lygia Pape, Hélio Oiticica, Augusto de Campos, Mestre Guarany and Surubim Feliciano da Paixão will also be on display, alongside Bo Bardi’s own works and writing (her original furnishings can also be viewed throughout the home).

’It’s a real inspiration to meet here with artists from across generations, across disciplines, and across Brazil to celebrate Lina Bo Bardi’s legacy and the richness of Brazilian culture. Bottega Veneta is all about timeless style,’ continues Blazy. ‘With The Square São Paulo, we recognise how Lina’s ideas and aesthetics resonate to this day, always reminding us of the transformative power of design and culture.’

The Square São Paulo is open to the public from 17 May to 3 June 2023. 

bottegaveneta.com

This rural Brazilian retreat, set in leafy Upstate São Paulo makes the most of its favourable position on high ground to look out to the region's green rolling hills. Titled MJE House and designed by Jacobsen Arquitetura, one of Brazil's most established names in the field, the project was conceived as a holiday home for a family of urbanites seeking a countryside escape. Drawing on the country's strong modernist architecture roots and sprinkling on some 21st century flair and technology, and the result offers just that – the perfect contemporary getaway. 

MJE House: inside the rural Brazilian retreat

MJE House is organised in two volumes, placed on top of each other at a right angle, in order to make the most of views and light. At the same time, the simple, long and low, loosely rectangular shapes keep the building close to the ground, while taking their cues from the surrounding landscape. A long, stone wall runs across the length of the lower volume, anchoring the project to the ground, offering a touch of nature and texture. 

On the upper level, a similar effect is offered by a series of freijó wood panels which act as privacy screens and shading for the bedroom areas, which are located in the top volume. This level is also the one that juts out in a cantilever over the landscape, creating a viewing platform for its users and framing vistas from the bedrooms. All the joinery and interiors were designed and implemented by Jacobsen Arquitectura, conceived after long discussions and a fruitful collaboration with the clients. 

As often displayed in the region's residential architecture, the design provides a strong connection between indoors and outdoors. The ground floor living space, a flowing, open-plan interior composed of various lounge arrangements, spills out effortlessly to a paved garden where additional seating and dining options are spread out. A swimming pool on one of the terraces adds to the residents' options for leisure and entertainment. 

The home's main entrance, situated at the intersection of the two horizontal blocks, features a sculptural, white, spiral staircase. It ensures that stepping inside offers drama and a sense of arrival befitting this rural Brazilian retreat's 21st century architecture. 

jacobsenarquitetura.com 

The Terrace Apartment by Estudio Guto Requena stands out in more ways than one. It is the Brazilian architect's own base, designed as the forever home for himself, his husband and their two dogs; it is housed in an icon of São Paulo's modernist architecture, designed in 1962 by Botti Rubin Arquitetos; and importantly, it also a unique urban retreat that brings, quite literally, nature and the outdoors in, within a leafy, 21st-century, design-led tour de force that highlights that life in a bustling metropolis like São Paulo need not mean a disconnect from nature. 

The Terrace Apartment by Estudio Guto Requena

For Requena, the Terrace Apartment also represents an update on the concept of living. The project's original, modernist bones have been rethought and brought into the 21st century, not only in terms of amenities and style, but also technologically. Immersed in an 'urban forest,' the project 'reflects on the impacts of new digital technologies and new ways of living', the architect ponders. 

Filling the interior with flexibility that allows the space to flow and adapt to the needs of its users, the apartment is transformed into a green retreat. The layout favours a less conventional room arrangement – instead of making a clear distinction between public and private spaces, as is often the traditional way, Requena focused more on creating hubs for functions within an interior where boundaries are blurred. 

The lesser seen aspect of the redesign involves its 'digitalisation', as network cables, microcontrollers and sensors have been invisibly embedded into the design, creating a home that is thoroughly modern and ultra-connected. 'Accesses, lighting, irrigation, audio and video, curtains and furniture, everything is automated,' the architect explained.

The couple wished they had a balcony, which the existing layout didn't provide, so bringing the nature in was the obvious solution for the enterprising architect. Working with a selection of local to Brazil species, an urban green was created, complete with fruit trees, a productive vegetable garden, and species with flowers. Planters, suspended plant boxes and bespoke green walls nod to the principles of sustainable architecture through biophilic design. Seeking materials with sustainable credentials throughout the design supports this approach too. 

At the same time, a selection of parametric furniture and art created in house by Estudio Guto Requena, populates the interior. Highlights include the Attraction buffet, the Turing rug and the Heart Wall art installation, an interactive piece that becomes the heart of the home. These are blended with vintage and contemporary finds, both from Brazil and abroad, such as items by Sérgio Rodrigues, Jean Gillon, Lina Bo Bardi,  Guilherme Wentz, Lucas Neves, Carol Gay, Maarten Baas, Antonio Citterio, Yrjo Kukkapuro, Le Corbusier, Jasper Morrison and Frank Gehry. 

The Terrace Apartment is a warm and characterful home, as well as the result of 20 years of research by Requena. His studies on 'the impacts of the new digital technologies in architecture, urban planning and design' at the Center for Interactive Living Studies of University of São Paulo (USP) also birthed a book titled Hybrid Dwelling: Subjectivities and Home Architecture in the Digital Age, which has been recently published by Senac. 

gutorequena.com 

The 34th São Paulo Bienal (4 September – 5 Dec 2021) was a 91-artist-strong cross-media exhibition, which delved into political narratives through four themes. The main site for the presentation was the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in Parque do Ibirapuera, its Oscar Nieymeyer-designed home since 1957. 

The 34th São Paulo Bienal: ‘Though it's dark, still I sing’

This December, a curated exhibition of work by fourteen artists from the exhibition ‘Though It's dark, still I sing’ has moved from its tour of South America to Europe for the finale in its ten-part travelling exhibition, held at Les Forges, part of art hub Luma Arles in France. 

Split into a series of thematic strands, the show explored the statements ‘The Portraits of Frederick Douglass’, ‘The Death Watch by Hélio Oiticica’, ‘The Bell of Ouro Preto’ and ‘Tikmū’ūn Songs’. The themes, selected by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, general curator of the 34th Bienal and his curatorial team, aim to shine new light on the artworks, referring to pivotal moments in history and contemplating our collective futures.

The exhibition explores how Immaterial objects hold narratives with compelling histories, and prompts conversations on post-colonial issues, environmental concerns and Indigenous cosmologies. The show is posed as a journey through time and space, with its opening coinciding with a weekend of talks titled ‘Realities of Science Fiction II’, which delve into speculative fiction as a mode of resistance, alongside Afrofuturism.

The selected artists hail from seven countries and comprise Victor Anicet, Zózimo Bulbul, Seba Calfuqueo, Manthia Diawara, Jaider Esbell, Noa Eshkol, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Carmela Gross, Sueli Maxakali, Gala Porras-Kim, Alice Shintani, Amie Siegel, Regina Silveira, and Daiara Tukano.

‘Though it’s dark, still I sing: Works from the 34th Bienal de São Paulo’ in LUMA Arles will be on view from 16 December 2022, to 5 March 2023.

LUMA Arles, Parc des Ateliers, Les Forges, 35 avenue Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles; luma.org

Studio Arthur Casas has designed a second São Paulo retail space and tasting bar for wine distributor Mistral in the Iguatemi Mall. The contemporary, curved interior, references organic shapes and combines natural and high-tech materials.

It was 15 years ago that Brazilian architect Arthur Casas designed Mistral’s first space in the Brazilian capital, yet for the second venue, the same brief was kept in mind: to create an inviting, innovative and surprising space to enrich the customer.

Taking advantage of the location of the store within the mall which connects two parallel shopping corridors, Casas opened up the design to allow people to organically flow through a curved pathway to create a scenic diversion while journeying through the mall, as well as a destination for discovering and enjoying wine. At one entrance, an air-conditioned wine cellar holds Mistral’s finest bottles, while at the opposite entrance, a window displays bottles and accessories on drawers, lit from the bottom up.

After this enticing welcome, a journey into Mistral is accompanied by browsing wines organised across floor-to-ceiling carbonised solid wood shelving. The deep mahogany-coloured tone of the wood, that brings with it a fruity taste of aged wineries, was achieved through a process of heating the wood to 3000 degrees celsius. Casas developed the material exclusively for the design, aiming to reach the right combination of materiality and colour to reflect the pedigree of the wine.

In contrast to the deep timber tones, the pathway itself and ceiling are both a glossy bright off-white colour, illuminated by the lighting design which helps to make the pathway float futuristically through the interior.

The core of the space holds the ‘Mesa amorfa’ or ‘amorphous table’ designed by Casas specially for Mistral for the exhibition of bottles. For guests who are curious to know more, there is a touch screen embedded into the curved wall for further knowledge about the history and properties of the wines, while a wine bar island within the mall corridor is a social stopover made of slats of carbonised wood for a glass, or two.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Studio Arthur Casas website

In an age of 24/7 hyper-connectivity, it takes some effort to get away from it all, but at The Catuçaba Hideaway, we might actually have discovered the ideal bolt-hole. 

For starters, the location revels in its splendid isolation. Set within a 12,000-acre farming community, high on the side of a bluff swathed in bush and sporting views that stretch clear to the horizon, Studio MK27 has fashioned from responsibly sourced Amazon hardwoods, an elongated floating platform of expansive timber decks, four bedrooms, and cosy spaces furnished with locally-accented rugs, blue window shutters, textiles and clay bricks. 

Eucalyptus twig screens cast mesmerising shadows and provide cross-breezes during the summer months, whilst chillier nights can be whiled away in a copper bathtub or by ceramic wood-burning stoves. For the less indolent, the days are packed with horse-back trails with strapping gauchos, laps in rock pools, and platters of grass-fed steaks in local village restaurants.  

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

São Luíz do Paraitinga

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In 2000, chef George Yuji Koshoji and Carlos Carvalho decided to put the same laser focus on their interiors that they applied to service and sushi. They hired Brazilian architect Arthur Casas to relaunch Kosushi, which was celebrated for its design, and cuisine – eventually earning a Michelin star.

Seventeen years later and Casas has outdone himself with a fresh, yet familiar brand evolution and an inherent sense of drama. The new design opens up the voluminous space, making room for a front lobby bar made of granite and a feature banquette that runs the depth of the restaurant.

The mid-century furniture brings a pop of colour to the lounge, and a modern contrast to Japanese-inspired design elements like the ceiling grid made of native cumaru, the reimagined zen garden and the group of handwoven wicker globe pendants which loom large in the new four-meter tall glass window added to the façade. 

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Rua Viradouro, 139

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H Stern turns 70 next year and to celebrate, the Brazilian jeweller has chosen to host a glittering gold exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) in its native Rio de Janeiro. Ouru - Portugese for 'gold' - explores the connection between the precious metal and the arts in the form of 30 unique works by Brazilian artists, including sculptors, painters, photographers and conceptual artists.

Eleven rooms are linked via 330m gold thread, representing H Stern's 'Fluid Gold' necklace design. Several of the exhibiting artists have collaborated on collections with the jeweller, including Oscar Niemeyer who joined famously joined forces with the brand in 2011 for a collection of architecture-inspired white and yellow gold pieces. One whole room is dedicated to these diamond-studded, contoured earrings, rings and bracelets, which mimic the organic, curving lines of Niemeyer's sketches.

Works on show throughout the other rooms are derived from varying disciplines, but are all inspired by that single, gleaming material. 'Some works are essentially conceptual and work with gold as a metaphor, straying from its material properties,' says curator Marcello Dantas. 'Other [pieces] create a dialogue with the material and its unique softness, colour and conductivity. But all the pieces on show are ultimately interested in the role of gold in our society.'

Highlighting H Stern's unique collaborative bent, on show are necklaces inspired by Corpo Escola de Dança, the Belo Horizonte contemporary dance company famed for reinterpreting traditional Brazilian dance forms. The group's collaboration with the Brazilian jeweller began in 1992 with a collection of gold earrings and rings in subtle, hammered finishes. Named after the company's ballets, they were inspired by the shapes of the dancers' moving forms.

Other pieces include sibling designers the Campana Brothers, who have created a densely fringed gold stole using 80,000 strands of 18-carat gold thread. A gold necklace-dress composed of a chain that drapes lightly around the body is also a must-see. The next fortnight is the last chance for visitors to see 'Ouro', which finishes on 5 January 2015 before travelling to London.

ADDRESS

Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil
Rua Álvares Penteado, 112
Sao Paulo
Brazil

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His career started in his mother’s kitchen, aged seven and has seen him clock up stints at an esteemed flock of local and international restaurants from Brazil’s Maní to Mugaritz in Spain. Now, chef Ivan Ralston has finally taken the plunge and gone solo with a new dining room that celebrates his combined passion for contemporary cuisine and locally sourced ingredients- in this case from just upstairs. Comprising its own rooftop greenhouse, which produces a fair portion of the herbs and vegetables found in the restaurant’s dishes, Tuju gives new credence to the concept of farm-to-table dining, and offers a succinct and playful menu that blends traditional Brazilian dishes with global flavours. Located in Vila Madalena, the boho-chic neighbourhood in western São Paulo, the restaurant has been designed by local architects Vapor 324, who have created an industrial yet warm space with a contemporary edge. Highlights include custom-designed lighting fixtures by São Paulo-based firm NeuteChvaicer and modern artwork by Marilá Dardot. Outside, a mural of the restaurant’s namesake by artist Deco Farkas looms large; the native bird is nocturnal, making it a cheeky backdrop for the buzzing outdoor lounge area. Here, try The Last Word- a gin tipple infused with lemon, green chartreuse and maraschino.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Rua Fradique Coutinho 1248
São Paulo
Brazil

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Housed in an iconic villa designed by David Libeskind, Attimo is São Paulo's most exciting new fine-dining destination - no surprise considering its impeccable provenance as the brainchild of Marcelo Fernandes (of the legendary Kinoshita restaurant) and celebrated chef Jefferson Rueda. Rueda's menu is inspired by home-cooked Italian fare - he calls it 'Italo-Caipira', or country Italian - passed down by immigrants working the land around São Paulo. The concept might sound casual but the experience is not. The building's signature 'cobogó', or patterned partition, is a focal point. It was restored by local architect Naoki Otake, who used marble and Brazilian hardwood to craft a clean, sophisticated two-level space around it, not to mention an impressive glass-enclosed wine room, demo kitchen and private dining area. Landscaping by Gilberto Elkis helps to make the terrace an especially pleasant place to lose yourself for the better part of a day.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Rua Diogo Jácome 341
São Paulo
Brazil

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