Passeio Paulista: A New Office Tower arrives in Downtown São Paulo's Skyline
- In an exclusive interview with REsource, architect and partner-director of the aflalo/gasperini architects office discusses the conception of the Passeio Paulista
Facing the Consolação Cemetery stands the Passeio Paulista, a Class A+ development owned by Brookfield and Fibra. In addition to these two major companies, the project was developed by the aflalo/gasperini architects office, responsible for the IBM headquarters, Rochaverá Complex (Ebony, Marble, Crystal e Diamond towers), São Paulo State Court of Auditors, Claudio Santoro Theater in Campos do Jordão, Fasano Itaim Hotel, and others.
Architect and partner-director of the architecture office, Roberto Aflalo Filho, shares insights into the Passeio Paulista project and his design philosophy. Aflalo emphasizes the uniqueness of their projects, driven by a desire to create something truly remarkable.
The Passeio Paulista is regarded as an intriguing project by the architect. Situated in downtown São Paulo, the development spans 46,000 square meters across 21 floors, offering spaces for commerce, services, leisure, and a residential loft area. Aflalo underscores the significance of integrating occupants with the urban landscape in his designs. Each floor of the development features a terrace, providing occupants with panoramic views of the city. Despite São Paulo's limited green spaces, the vista of the Consolação Cemetery offers a welcome contrast to the surrounding concrete, glass, and steel structures.
"The view is truly remarkable. The presence of the cemetery, with its lush vegetation, provides a unique and unexpected sight amidst the urban sprawl. From your office, you're greeted with a sea of greenery, extending towards the Pacaembu Stadium and beyond. It's a rare and captivating setting," he explains.
"A reference is something very important"
To grasp the rationale behind the project, one must delve into its history. Initially conceptualized as a hotel and corporate building, the project underwent evolution, prioritizing a single "pure-blood" tower while setting aside the hotel component.
"At the time, there were two key considerations guiding our design process. Firstly, there was a notable surge in coworking activity, with coworking spaces emerging as the primary tenants in the city. This prompted us to create larger, more flexible floors," he explains.
In addition to aligning with the trend of flexible workspaces and space optimization, Aflalo/Gasperini Architects drew inspiration from the past, particularly from the Conjunto Nacional situated on Paulista Avenue.
"Another critical criterion was our reference point, which, in this case, was the Conjunto Nacional. It embodies a concept that prioritizes a dynamic ground floor – a mixed-use environment fostering commercial activities and shops that benefit from increased foot traffic. We sought to echo this approach by anchoring the tower to the base, albeit with the more formal characteristics of a high-standard office," elucidates the architect.
While the main entrance fronts Consolação Street, an additional plot of land was acquired during the project's development to provide access to Bela Cintra Street.
"The building is an urban sculpture"
In addition to optimizing all areas of a development, Aflalo believes that to create a project of this magnitude, you must either do something relevant and interesting, or the building will just be another mediocre and generic structure in the São Paulo skyline.
"This artistic question is a curious thing. Because, in fact, there is an opportunity for you to have an artistic expression in a building, it is enormous, the building is an urban sculpture, it is a colossal object in terms of volumetrics. We always joke here that it is an opportunity that passes, either you print something there that is interesting and adds to the city, or this opportunity passes, you make another little building, where they will look at that generic landscape, and maybe one day it will be demolished or something like that," says Aflalo when asked about the fine line between art and technique in the conception of a building.
In addition to the pragmatic, the technical, the structural basics following the rules, technological and economic viability, there is art. Roberto Aflalo, who is part of the second generation of aflalo/gasperini architects, says that to be iconic, you need to explore the potential, move from the technical to the artistic plane.
"The market is cyclical"
With ups and downs, the real estate market is noticeable to architects and is analyzed as cyclical. Aflalo explains that from the perspective of designers, the market has been warming up and improving. Previously, due to the pandemic and remote work, the pace of architectural projects had slowed down, but it is picking up again.
Data from Market Analytics show this; São Paulo still has a high vacancy rate, 22.8%, much higher than in 2019, which was on a downward trend, 15.2%. Despite the high vacancy moment, as in Chucri Zaidan, this is cyclical and has a time to end, as the partner-director of the architecture office explains.
"At some point, they make Building X with a rent of R$300/m², from there the whole market goes after that number, as if it were an objective to be achieved. This leads to a boom in buildings, shaking the economy. After the shock, there is an excess of supply and empty buildings. Then it takes a cycle of 5 to 10 years to recover. Meanwhile, these buildings are gradually occupied. After a while, the numbers start to become positive. Companies start to grow and occupy buildings. But then people get excited, and the price starts to rise again. The market is like that, cyclical," he concludes.
