Brazil’s SESCs (Serviço Social do Comércio) have been a long-standing tradition in the country's cultural history, ever since their invention in the 1940s. Key outposts have been designed by acclaimed architects, such as Lina Bo Bardi (her SESC Pompeia is as iconic as they get) and Oscar Niemeyer (his SESC Copacabana was completed in 1982). Now, São Paulo-based Königsberger Vannucchi has designed the typology’s latest addition; a multi-functional tower on the Brazilian metropolis’ Avenida Paulista.
Founded and run by private businesses, the Social Service of Commerce – SESC – is a unique set-up that looks after the welfare and quality of life of workers within the sectors of goods, tourism and services, promoting cultural education and health. So, SESC Avenida Paulista underlines the famous São Paulo stretch’s growing cultural output, joining Andrade Morettin Arquiteto’ Instituto Moreira Salles, Kengo Kuma and FGMF’s Japan House, and Lina Bo Bardi’s MASP, all of which are located a stone's throw away.
SESC Avenida Paulista is the famous Brazilian avenue's latest cultural addition. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
When it comes to Königsberger Vannucchi’s building, the glass-clad volume was designed to be assertive, yet welcoming and approachable. The architects opted for as much visual transparency as possible, its façade revealing the various activities taking place inside.
‘The configuration of the east and west facades, with horizontal features, allows users a new look at the city while breaking with the typical typology of Paulista Avenue office buildings, announcing a new use of the old building (designed by Sérgio Pileggi and Euclides de Oliveira in the 1970s), divided between SESC and Fecomércio, and a new and democratic audience’, says project lead Gianfranco Vannucchi.
The tall building accommodates a variety of service areas, from a café, library, and children's room, to technology, arts and sports halls, exhibition space, shop and a dentist, across some 17 floors. Encouraging interaction between uses, while maintaining noise levels and public access to appropriate levels for each function, this new SESC brings Avenida Paulista one step further in its journey from corporate and financial hub to a budding cultural district.
Th high rise building contains a variety of services and flexible spaces for cultural, health and educational use. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
A highly sculptural facade alternates opaque panels and fully transparent glass enclosures to enhance visual connections. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
The architects wanted the interior to be visible and welcoming. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
In a break from the other buildings on the street, the SESC offers extensive long views of the São Paulo skyline. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
The building accommodates over 17 floors a variety of service areas, from a café, library, and children’s room... Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
...to technology, arts and sports halls, exhibition space, shop and a dentist. Photography: Pedro Vannucchi
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Konigsberger Vannucchi
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Restoring São Paulo: Planta’s mesmerising Brazilian brand of midcentury ‘urban recycling’Brazilian developer Planta Inc set out to restore São Paulo’s historic centre and return it to the heyday of tropical modernism
-
All aboard Casa Quinta, floating in Brazil’s tropical rainforestCasa Quinta by Brazilian studio Arquipélago appears to float at canopy level in the heart of the rainforest that flanks the picturesque town of Paraty on the coast between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
-
Feel like a movie? The top 50 films of all time according to Marcio KoganMarcio Kogan's top 50 films of all time; the architect taps into his passion for the moving image and shares with us his recommendations
-
Studio mk27 and Marcio Kogan’s greatest hits: from voluptuous villas to relaxing retreatsStudio mk27, led by Wallpaper* guest editor Marcio Kogan, is behind buildings that make us swoon; here are the best of the best
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practicesIn the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
-
How guest editor Marcio Kogan, during a visit to the movies, ‘discovered that something else exists in the world, real poetry’Marcio Kogan is a guest editor of Wallpaper* October 2024. In his dedicated section, we discover how the world of cinema’s loss was architecture’s gain when a feature film failed but a dream space creator rose from the ashes
-
Brazilian modernism finds its latest expression in Studio Porto’s AG HouseStudio Porto, an emerging Brazilian practice, joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024
-
A modernist São Paulo apartment finds a new lease of lifeA spacious modernist São Paulo apartment in the neighbourhood of Higienópolis gets a thorough renovation by Brazilian architects Bloco Arquitetos
