FGMF Arquitetos completes pixelated skyscraper in Brazil

Local studio FGMF Arquitetos has completed a mixed-use building in São Paulo made of stacked “protruding rectangular volumes” that contain multi-level office spaces and residences on the top floor.

At 21 storeys high, the Valente building was developed by Idea!Zarvos.

The firm worked with FGMF Arquitetos on a previous building in 2016, which explored atypical office layouts and helped to inform the design of Valente, according to the team.

The building is located in “the heart” of São Paulo’s Pinheiros district, known for its historic character and cultural attractions, such as nightlife and restaurants.

“Valente was designed from the inside out,” said FGMF partner Fernando Forte.

“Idea!Zarvos’ concept was based on a three-dimensional occupation of corporate space, with triplex and duplex units that allow spatial arrangements very different from those typically found in the market, highly adaptable to occupants’ needs.”

“Due to balcony regulations and the intention to create varied layouts, the building’s distinctive volumetry emerged, with deeply worked volumes and window frames that define the corner.”

The building’s volume is based on the concept of “rectangles with single or double-height ceilings, projecting forward” to create balconies, according to the studio.

It contains a ground-floor lobby, a stack of triplex apartments and duplex apartments in the middle, and two residential floors at the top. The eighteenth floor features a greenspace, while the upper levels also contain space for a future restaurant.

At the ground level, the building is set back to provide additional sidewalk space at its “important corner” in São Paulo, which sits at the intersection of Cardeal Arcoverde and Capote Valente streets.

Its rectangular volumes then stretch upwards in a variety of sizes and dimensions, with terraces hanging over both street facades, while the back two facades are flat.

The wide open glazed pockets of each volume “sometimes open as awning windows, sometimes as sliding windows”, according to the studio, and each are lined with thin, wooden mullions.

The volumes are also topped with planters, with landscape design by Rodrigo Oliveira, that will contain large trees.

The rest of the building is clad in small white tiles.

Inside, the lobby is narrow, with stone tiles cladding one wall. A yellow couch is placed to the side, while a front desk leads to an access door to the floors above.

The office floors are wide open and contain staircases that lead to either one or two additional floors, depending on the layout.

Mezzanines and walkways pass through the office levels, while the glass facades can be opened or lead onto the protruding terraces.

“Our intention with Valente was to create a place where people could live, work, and move around with greater ease,” said Idea!Zarvos founding partner Otavio Zarvos.

“We wanted a project that would simplify daily life while opening up new possibilities for interaction and the use of urban space.”

FGMF Arquitetos also completed another mixed-use skyscraper in Sáo Paulo in 2023, with similar rectangular projections and a residence outside the city in 2019.

The photography is by Fernando Guerra

Project credits:
Real estate developer: Idea!Zarvos
Construction company: Construcompany
Landscape architect: Rodrigo Oliveira
Lighting designer: Lightsource

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