São Paulo Architecture
Architecture and urban design in São Paulo, covering adaptive reuse, heritage conservation, and contemporary building practice in Brazil's largest city.
Studio Gontijo Arquitetura Strips a Compartmentalized Brasília House and Rebuilds It Around Gardens and Water
In Brasília, Vista House replaces a walled-off family home with charred timber volumes, vine-draped cantilevers and rooms that open onto pool and garden.
Sergio Sampaio Archi and Tectônica Set a Timber-Framed House on Stilts Above a Wooded Slope in Jacareí
In Jacareí's Paraíba Valley, a 440 m² house enters from a steel roof deck and descends through a glulam frame to a pool above the Jaguari reservoir.
Escala Arquitetura Steps a Stone-and-Timber House Down a Narrow Forested Slope in Araras, Brazil
In Araras, Brazil, a 1,300 m² house of rubble stone walls and thin timber roofs breaks into pavilions that track a narrow lot's steep fall.
VOA Arquitetura Opens a Twenty-Year-Old Family Beach House on São Paulo's Coast to the Sea
A renovation at Praia da Baleia, São Sebastião, wraps an aging holiday home in timber slats and glass, turning it outward toward the beach and garden.
Terra Arquitetura Rebuilds a Higienópolis Apartment Around Curved Walls, Cane Joinery and Treetop Windows
In São Paulo's Higienópolis, a 230 m² apartment is reorganized with soft plaster curves, oak and cane joinery, and a terrazzo kitchen floor.
Michel Macedo Arquitetos Suspends the Bedrooms of a Brazilian House over a 12-Meter Living Void
In Brazil, the Bom Retiro House lifts a louvered bedroom box over a clear 12-meter span, turning the void below into the home's social center.
IDEIA1 Wraps a Porto Alegre Residential Tower in Timber Slats and Trailing Balcony Gardens
In a traditional Porto Alegre neighborhood, IDEIA1's Tomaz Building layers concrete slabs, timber screens and trailing planters.
Obra Arquitetos Sinks a Board-Formed Concrete House Below the Street on a Steep Brazilian Hillside
In Brazil, FPW House steps a board-formed concrete frame down a steep lot, leaving the street a clear view over its green roofs to the farmland beyond.
AIA Estúdio and João Carrascosa Split a Petrópolis Hillside House into a Timber Pavilion and Two Plastered Suites
In the mountains of Petrópolis, Brazil, a reclaimed timber pavilion and two green-roofed suites step along the contour around a sheltered courtyard.
Lucas Gonçalves Arquitetura Splits a Franca Family House into Garden Pavilions Stepping Down a Wooded Slope
In Franca, São Paulo, Forest House closes a stone face to the street and opens timber-roofed pavilions to a pool, terraces and tropical garden.
GRUPOSP Stacks a Steel-Framed House Above a Wooded Valley in Santana do Parnaíba
In Tamboré, Brazil, a 450 m² house by GRUPOSP layers concrete, steel and perforated metal to lift its living rooms into the eucalyptus canopy.
André Vainer Arquitetos Builds a Sage Green Seafront House for Six Siblings on São Paulo's Northern Coast
On a corner lot at Praia do Guaeca, a stucco house in sage and teal shares one shoreline among six families through gardens, terraces and screens.
Saraiva + Associados Wraps a Barreiro Apartment Building in Curving White Balconies Facing the Tagus
In Barreiro, on the south bank of the Tagus, stacked balcony slabs, a rooftop pool and a shared courtyard turn apartment life outward toward the river.
Dall'Ovo Magalhães Arquitetura Sets a Brick and Timber Mountain House on a Plateau in São Francisco Xavier
A 175 m² single-storey house in São Francisco Xavier, Brazil, pairs exposed brick with log-beamed timber to turn daily life into an act of looking out.
Cité Arquitetura Turns a Narrow Rio Plot into a Timber-Shaded Lookout over the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon
In Rio de Janeiro's South Zone, a slim apartment building stacks glass balconies under timber slats to give the lagoon and mountains top billing.
GRUPOSP Revives the São Paulo Predinho with a Timber-Screened Courtyard Building in Pinheiros
A low-rise apartment building in Pinheiros, São Paulo, wraps a tree-filled courtyard in timber louvers to argue for the scale of the pre-1970s predinho.
André Vainer Arquitetos Wraps a Pink L-Shaped House Around a Brick Courtyard in São Paulo
In Alto de Pinheiros, a 550 m² house turns its back to the street and opens east, north and west to a brick courtyard filtered by timber lattice.
23 SUL Digs Down and Opens Up a São Paulo House Instead of Stacking a Second Story on Top
In São Paulo, 23 SUL exposes timber trusses, strips old brick and excavates a meter into the ground to grow a one-story house without adding a floor.
Melina Romano Carries Rural São Paulo Indoors at Otto Felix's Damata House in Itatiba
In rural Itatiba, Brazil, reed ceilings, rammed earth and regional furniture carry the countryside's material language through an 880 m² house.
ARCHITECTS OFFICE Packs a Cobalt Blue Art Bookstore into 40 Square Meters of a São Paulo Shopping Mall
In São Paulo's MorumbiShopping, a triangular 40 m² concept store wraps art books in monochrome blue shelving under one tensioned skylight.
