LOCATION: Rua Conselheiro Crispiniano, São Paulo, Brazil
ARCHITECT: Brasil Arquitetura
DATES: 2012
NOTES:
Site Visit: Tues Apr 2 2014
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Though this project was “completed” in 2012 (as further supported by the glossy final project shots published on various architecture blogs) there’s a strange limbo quality to the project today: as if it’s still waiting for that final coat of paint, for the drop clothes to be rolled away; and yet it also feels like it’s 40 years old.
…and such is the awkward state in which so much of São Paulo’s modern architecture resides.
I visited this project as part of a requested add-on to a tour of the Municipal Theatre, one of São Paulo’s few historic buildings. In fact when I stopped into the Praça das Artes at first to inquire about this tour (yes, in Portuguese – no, not in good Portuguese) I was told by not one, not two, but three security guards that it didn’t exist. It was only by specifically asking my tour guide to see the Praça das Artes (this time in English), that it was confirmed that indeed this was an optional (albeit not popular) finale to the Municipal Theatre tour.
It’s worth noting that this tour of the Municipal Theatre was my only encounter with other (non-Brazilian) tourists during my entire three week stay in Sao Paulo; which speaks to São Paulo’s global reputation – not one of great beauty – and to the value placed on the city’s historic buildings versus their new modern ones.
Now I don’t say this to suggest that there isn’t an appreciation for modern architecture in São Paulo, on the contrary, these buildings hold a very important place in the culture of the city. But the rate at which modern buildings replaced historic ones makes the few remaining ones fairly extraordinary.
RELEVANT LINKS
http://www.archdaily.com/339274/praca-das-artes-brasil-arquitetura/
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/02/14/praca-das-artes-performing-arts-centre-brasil-arquitetura/
http://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/cultura/theatromunicipal/projetos_gratuitos/index.php?p=3363