A Guide to São Paulo Design Destinations

São Paulo has a rich history of modern design as well as a vibrant contemporary scene—evidenced by the third edition of DW! Design Weekend held last month. The city is massive and susceptible to traffic, so to cover the most ground I recommend you hire a driver to visit my favorite design destinations.

A. Parque Ibirapuera 

AVENUE PEDRO ÁLVARES CABRAL - VILA MARIANA

One can’t think of Brazilian design without thinking of Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012), the influential modern architect best known for the design of the civic buildings of the planned capital city Brasília. In São Paulo, Ibirapuera Park (1951) houses a concentration of Niemeyer’s reinforced concrete buildings including the Fundação Bienal (1951), the flying saucer-like Oca Building (1954), and the wedge-shaped Auditório Ibirapuera (2005), which integrates sculptures by Brazil’s celebrated artist Tomie Ohtake, now 100 years old. Adjacent to Niemeyer’s buildings, you should also visit The Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), the first modern art museum in Latin America, designed by Lina Bo Bardi in 1948.

B. Casa de Vidro

Rua Gal Almério Moura, 200 - Vila Tramontano

Architect Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992) was born in Italy and collaborated with Gio Ponti prior to moving with her art curator husband to Brazil. In 1951, when her husband was appointed head of Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), Bo Bardi became a naturalized citizen, and built her “Glass House” or Casa de Vidro where she lived until her death. Situated in a neighborhood where the rainforest used to be, Bo Bardi's house was built when there were hardly any trees, save for one that grew through the center courtyard. More than 60 years later, due to Bo Bardi’s plantings, the vegetation has grown up lushly around this daring glass cube atop piloti. The icing on the cake is seeing all of Bo Bardi’s original furnishings, including a few unique pieces and rare prototypes.

C.  Museu Da Casa Brasileira 

Avenue Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2705 - Jardim Paulistano

Hugo França (b. 1954) was working as an industrial engineer in São Paulo before he moved to northern Brazil in Bahia at the age of 26, to live among the Pataxó people and fish. Some 15 years later, inspired by the Pataxós use of fallen native pequi wood to make canoes, França started making furniture. In New York, you can see his large-scale sculptural works at R & Company, but if you’re in São Paulo, there’s currently an exhibition of his work in the garden of Museu Da Casa Brasileira (av. Brig. Faria Lima, 2705). You shouldn’t miss lunch at the museum restaurant Santinho (chef Morena Leite is França’s goddaughter). Also, through September 11th, don’t miss the museum’s Lina Bo Bardi exhibition.

D. Firma Casa

Alameda Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, 1487 - Jardim América

Firma Casa was founded in 1994, and in 2008 the owner Sonia Diniz Bernardini invited The Campana Brothers to conceive of a design for a new gallery; in turn, the Campanas invited a young architecture firm SuperLimão Studio to work with them. The result is a facade covered in origami-like hanging vases holding more than 3,500 Espada-de-São-Jorge plants, commonly associated with protective powers in Brazil. Firma Casa functions as both a showroom and a gallery for limited-edition works by designers such as Nada Se Leva, who are working closely with a group of local craftspersons to market their embroidered hammocks and pillows globally.

E.  Passado Composto Seculo XX 

Alameda Lorena, 1996 - Jardins

Visit Passado Composto Seculo XX for an exceptional selection of vintage Brazilian design by the likes of Joaquim Tenreiro, Sergio Rodrigues, and Jorge Zalszupin. Modernist Brazilian tapestries are also an area of expertise for the vastly knowledgeable owner Maria Das Graças Bueno, a second-generation dealer.

F. Hotel Fasano 

Rua Vittorio Fasano 88 - Jardins