First, three days is just not enough to see SP. And then when the three days are cursed by pooring down rain, well the program gets seriously challenged. Nonetheless we managed to make good walks - after tracing the routes on google earth, I can declare proudly that I have been walking 38 km in SP, and my shoes have holes now.
# DAY 1 #
I arrived by plane at Guarulhos airport - shuttles takes you directly to SP Centro, República. Yuval picks me up there and after leaving superficial stuff at the appartment - what a view! - we leave to walk the city.
First impressions of SP, from Yuval's balcony
Crossing Praça da República, down São João, towards the Banespa rises as a little Empire State Building - the Altino Arantes building, actually inspired by the Empire State Building and Frank Lloyd Wright. Yuval takes me first to a shopping gallery, Galeria do rock - only gothic people, hard core rockers hanging out there, shops selling skate-shoes, gothic stuff and the regular sound of tattoo shops popping up here and there - what an amazing space inside, with through-going holes bringing in some natural light from the glazed roof lantern.
Galeria do rock
We carry on winding our way towards the Banespa building, so that I get to see the theater, the Anhangabaú, the Viaduto do Chá and Praça da Patriarca, with the curved cover of Mendes da Rocha. Yuval has done his part of research on his city: explaining to me the phases of the Anhaganbaú river, one of the two rivers composing the first triangle settlement from which the city developped, the parc, the construction of motorways through the river valley, and how it were digged under the parc as well, resulting in a multi-layered and multi-functional urban node.
Theater and skyscrapers around Parque Anhangabaú
Anhangabaú - parc side and motorway side:
Anhangabaú was one of the rivers of SP, covered and replaced by a motorway in its valley, now it is a multi-layered urban node (motorway in two or three layers, pedestrian parc and viaduct!)
The buildings are amazing, thrown straight up in the air, high vertical, in concrete and glass - tones of grey which actually fits the rain as well, activating some nuances of grey in the townscape. Very simple buildings as well, very modernistic somehow. But just working perfectly in this town. Brasilian modernism is revealing itself as a much more convincing reference than the European ones.
From the Anhangabaú, we reach the somehow first CBD, with still the main bank buildings. The street are empty besides for the sellers of umbrellas (guarda-chuva), who suddenly appears when the rain shower starts again, and the the few urban dwellers and crazy tourists. But the pavement and buildings do bare very well the rain, the sights do not suffer the lack of sun - beautiful reflections of the water darkened concrete amplifying the grey contrasts.
São João, one side facing the Anhangabaú, and the other facing the Banespa
Amazing architectectonic details on bank buildings
Striking contrast with the homeless person on the stairs...
- The consequence and expression of capitalistic evolution?
Reaching Patio do Colégio, it is time for coffee break, in the Portuguese colonial yard of the monastery, and a view over the city.
Rain on the pavements
Everywhere you turn your eye, it is contrasts in colours, sizes, styles, wealth... Sequences and rythms like the decreasing stair effect of the buildings here. An uglyness and beauty that results from necessity, like the climatisation box on the glas facade.
View from Patio do Colégio
Down towards the Mercado Municipal, it is shops of plastic stuff - stuff is the word as anything can be found there! - and more people, hanging out, assemnling garbage, costumers in and out the shops. Yuval dispears to show me the SP cheio that he knows, but well some people and crowd is to be found down rua 25 de Março. The Mercado is an amazing place, a huge indoor market in a remarkable building. The glaswork is so colourful, no religious topic, but probably something linked to the food, the regions of its production and the people produciong it... At the mezzanine, find the Praça de alimentação, where you could try a sanduiche de mortadella (apparently THE thing here, if you are hungry and not vegetarian... huge piece of meat!)
Around rua 25 do Março and the Mercado Municipal
Mercado Municipal
More fruit and sorts that you can dream of...
Back to the Monasterio São Bento and catching a metro to get to Avenida Paulista, the second center of SP.
We walk down the whole avenue, stopping at the MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo, built by the architect Lina Bo Bardi - basically a huge concrete and glass edifice of 74 m long, supported by to red beams, or porches. The concrete slab and the red sides create a frame to the city view behind, or the Avenida Paulista.
The MASP
1: Architectonic detail of the MASP - junction of red and natural concrete, glass and the rain gutter forming a little waterfall
2: Road and skyscraper mess - view behind the MASP
Buildings on Avenida Paulista
The Itaú building
The Itaú building is remarkable as well, with its interior pavements and the ramp taking you from the low parking garage to the top floor.
The Itaú building
From the avenue, we decide to walk down to a largo where it should be possible to get a fresh beer in a nice atmosphere before deciding for dinner plans. On the way, Yuval takes me passed Oscar Friere street - the fancy one with all the exclusive shops, and a havaiana shop, huge! Here there is guards at the entrance of almost every shop. People walk with huge bags, high heals, and generally took the car to reach the shopping street. Huge contrast from the sight around the station at República, when I arrived: poor people, homeless people sleeping on the street, sitting there.
Let me explain to you here how the sight of those poor are in the city. Even thoug I don't like it, because they are humans and not tourist attractions. But they are as well the reality of many cities in Brazil, and part of your everyday if you don't have a car and take the public transportation, walk the street... They wear clothes often too big for them, and havaianas (the poorman's footwear). They are dirty, you wonder if the colour of their face and skin is darker because they are constantly on the streets (dirt), under the sun or because it is flee that touches only some more dark skin people (descendant from slaves and African immigrants...) They smell sometimes. They sleep on steps, in corners, on benches, just like that - plop, laying down and sleeping. You could wonder how they do it - probably an excess of alcohol or drugs helps to fall asleep. They seem to have all the time in the world, and I cannot keep from wondering if they enjoy having that time, or if it is a burden. Probably both. They collect garbage and cans on charriots they pull along the way - often it gives then the possibility to exchange for food or get some money. Dogs often follow them, groaning at you but then swinging the tail as you start talking to them.
We reach Praça Benedito Calixto - beer and feihoada on the menu that night. The bus home takes us through Higienópolis, the fancy part of town, clean and fine. Later at night it is Rua Augusta and its bars that I discover: a street full of life, people standing on the street drinking beer, while other try to pass by, picking which bar they want to try tonight. Taxis drive up and down. And again we walk home through other districts, always getting the anecdotes of which buildings being teared down, square dismissed but then rebuilt again, who bought which street to make into a restaurant street... and so on.
Coloured surprises when walking in Higienópolis
# DAY 2 #
Sunday, rainy sunday...still. We go for a Sunday walk on the Minhocão: the 'snake' is the elevated motorway which winds through SP, and which is closed on sundays to allow walkers, bikers, joggers to make use of it. A nice way to experience the city, with a bit more hight and perspectives.
Walking on the minhacão - the COPAN in sight (right picture)
Fun details when you walk on a motorway...
1: Sunday market seen from the minhacão - 2: Off, and crossing over the minhacão (Yuval)
Getting breakfast at the COPAN - an amazing residential builting by Oscar Niemeyer. This guy made some amazing buildings, most of them I would consider them so abstract in their forms and volumetry that they get closer to sculptures, and I wonder how livable they are. But the COPAN... An amazing piece of work! The curved buildings blicks, the use of the ground floor for cafes and shops, inside and out to the street. The use of material: concrete, glass and wood - a nice combination mastered here as well. We march on toward the Italia tower for a panoramic view over the city (not possible because it is closed...), but I meet in the elevator the first Danish people in Brazil - fun.
Green planted car on the way to COPAN
The COPAN - just a truely beautiful building
Next stop is Estação Luz, Parque da Luz, the Pinacoteca - with the renovation by Mendes da Rocha - and the Sala in the renovated cultural/music center Estação Julio Prestes.
Empty square, not just because of the rain! - These are examples of bad management and design of the urban spaces in SP... What to do when you have torn down a building? At least the rain allows the building to reflect on the wet surface.
Estação Luz
Parque da Luz - the first public garden in SP
The Museum of the Pinacoteca exhibits for the moment art works of Olafur Eliasson - amazing as always... The pieces fit the spaces, the effect are fantastic, poetic and of high engineering skills somehow - and then had an exhibition of drawings of Brazilian flora - beautiful and fascinating - and finally the drawings of Saul Steinberg - keep an eye if he is exposed in a museum close by: definately worth the sight! He has a fantastic eye to catch the funny details in a very caricatural, but sharp, way, and his precise and skilled line serves his purpose fully. Just great!
Mendes da Rocha's intervention within the museum's walls
Olafur Eliasson's mirror instalation - a dialectic with the building
Art is fun!
The program is then on checking out the Cathedral Sé and walk down to Liberdade, the Jap neighbourhood, which is probably more Chinese and Corean nowadays, since the Japs have moved out for some time ago. But still the sidewalks, lamps, shops and the market tell the origins of that district. At Liberdade, Yuval suggests a snack: squid balls, served with some kind of soy sauce and whatever spread over. Very tasty!
Liberdade, market and street lanterns
Geisha graffiti in Liberdade
Viewpoint to the highrise city
Surprise - hidden houses in a passage
We walk further down, digging into the neighbourhood, making the connexions between districts and experiencing the transitions from one atmosphere to another. Here a little largo offers beautiful examples of cages for houses and cars, and fences trespassing the public sidewalk - private space taking over teh public.
Little oldy cuty largo between Liberdade and Aclimação
From Liberdade, going up and down to the Parque da Aclimação, which is not a huge touristic sight in the city, but a great place to get beautiful views toward the high rise skyline of SP.
Paradise - follow the arrow...
Parque da Aclimação
Be sure it is a Brazilian street!
From there we cross over to Paraiso on Avenida Paulista - yeah, because in all its mess, SP has a station for Paradise, how easy is that?! - then the Italian district Bela Vista, with all the Italian pizza and pasta restaurants. Although it did not look that Italian to me. I guess the original immigrants have here as well, moved further into the city, since they arrived.
Back on Avenida Paulista
# DAY3 #
Monday, work day. Yuval tells me that this is the day for experiencing the SP cheio and lotado, meaning full and crowded of people. Stuffed into the subway and the train towards the lates CBD (not that central anymore though...) in order to get to work. The journey goes along the river, polluted and stincky - especially in hot days - which makes you sick and nautious, when you are squeezed between the hundreds of other commuters. At Berrini, a last coffe with my host and advices of where to go to see interesting things, and then I am off for the last day of discoveries. First I have to check out the huge bridge, landmark for the new CBD of SP! Appearing on so many book and guide covers.
Berrini CBD's landmark
From Berrini, it is as well a riverside where favellas have been removed in order to build residential fancy towers, or the new shopping Jardim with three towers on top - containing everything so you basically don't have to leave the condominio! Great improvement for urban life! Pedestrian even couldn't enter the complexe - only cars. That point though should have been improved since its opening, as I was told. Tiny bits of favellas are still visible around the edifices.
Favellas, bits of social housing, fancy residential edifices and offices - all together and completelly separated though!
Making my way between the river and Avenida Berrini's high office building and the nextdoor neighbourhood's low buildings and parcs, I reach Vila Olimpia and Faria Lima. More high rise, concrete, glas, colourful or grey, squared or curved... many different examples of the building and development impulse in SP new decentralised business center.
Examples of architecture in Berrini and Faria Lima
If you walk away from the main street just one or two blocks, it is houses and low buildings, trees and very suburban areas you find. The contrast is somehow big. And as Yuval noticed sharply the side-walks in Berrini are still narrow, paved and suburban like, but with CBD high buildings - just not fitting to each other somehow. And the office buildings are monofunctional. All commercial function is to be found mainly in the remaining suburban houses, converted to shops, bars, restaurants and car garages. Funny contrast and evolution of things.
Berrini vs. little garage...only 500m separate them!
Little parc just on the side of Avenida Berrini
1: Immense crossroad at the intersection of Faria Lima and Juscelino - 2: Suburban side streets
The Parque do Povo that I reach on one of the detours is a nice, wide space from where some distance and space allow to frame and contemplate the views to the riversides, the busy motorway and the high rise skyline. View to the few remaining favellas as well. And then the funny impression of having the planes landing on the rooftops of the skyscrapers - the local airport being rather close by. The parc is obviously the place where the residents of Berrini neighbourhood can go for a pieceful walk or biketour. Lanes for pedestrians, lanes for bikers, under the trees, crossing the parc, playground in the center, a few statues or arty artefacts. I am stopped by a guard: 'Why do you take pictures? What do you take pictures of?' If it is for your own use, it is ok. I never got so many questions and suspections about me taking pictures in that area... But with a smile and the reason of a beautiful or interesting view, and "tudo bom!"
Skyline view from Parque do Povo
1: Art - 2: Planes landing on rooftops
Continuing up through Faria Lima, another detour around lunch time in the Cachoeira shopping street, before reaching Pinheiros. Again a transition - from the fancy high rise to some more shaggy streets with wide square, used for you don't really know what and who, graffitis and low houses circled by higher residential buildings.
Avenida Rebouças between Faria Lima and Pinheiros
Pinheiros
Graffitis in Pinheiros, on Faria Lima
Here lies the last objective of my monday tour: the Tomie Othake Institute. Amazing colourful building in the middle of a neighbourhood elsewise more shaggy, a high fellow among low houses (residences or restaurants). Othake stands for the Brazilian abstractionism: Tomie, as artist, Ruy, as architect. Really worth to check out!
Instituto Tomie Othake
# Journey back # I reach the Rodoviaria just in time to sprint down to the bus platform. I chose on purpose the bus trip home - not only cheaper but very interesting when you want to experience the transition between crowded huge SP and the countryside. The high rise becomes lower, getting out in suburban neighbourhoods with a mix of houses and social buildings, some favellas and their shaggy occupation of space, and then suddenly it is more green than asphalt - it is the countryside basically. Between naps and waking points (the walks were really tiring!) I see the landscape change - again it is fabullous hills, mounts, a warm and friendly afternoon sun illuminating the folds in the hills, the green green green vegetation and making the landscape just splendid!
Mounts and plantations on the way back
When the sun touches the curve of the mountain, or the clouds melt over the peaks...
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