Sao Paulo: The Latest Architecture and News

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The term "retrofit," unlike rehabilitation or restoration, has been adopted by the market to address technological upgrades in existing buildings. These projects focus on aligning constructions with local technical standards and adapting spaces to be more functional and sustainable, meeting current demands.

Retrofit has become a key practice in contemporary architecture, standing out for its ability to revitalize existing buildings without the need for demolition while offering significant economic and social benefits. This approach is gaining ground in the architectural field, driven by iconic projects and public and private initiatives.

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Urban renewal projects generally involve large-scale demolitions, resulting in the erasure of local historical identity and generating a massive amount of waste, along with the transportation of new materials for construction. Some projects, however, bring new perspectives and showcase different ways of doing things. This is the case of LAPI—an abbreviation for "Largo" and "Pinheiros"—, an example of urban occupation and requalification that respects local identity and promotes a new experience of urban space occupation by rethinking it based on its pre-existing elements. With architecture by SuperLimão and master planning by Spol, the project occupies an area of 20,000 m² and encompasses 29 properties distributed across three blocks in a traditional neighborhood in the West Zone of São Paulo. It is located at a strategic point where the city's main roads intersect, offering views of the thousands of people that circulate around it on a daily basis. We spoke with Thiago Rodrigues, architect and partner at the firm, about the challenges and opportunities of working on a project of this type.

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