HELIOPOLIS Social Housing

In a rare opportunity for the city of São Paulo, the isolated tower architectural model is replaced by the traditional European urban block model, with the buildings occupying its perimeter and conforming an inner courtyard with public access, meant for the leisure of the block`s inhabitants. The site topography is taken in account, meant to maximize the apartment’s number (420 units split in two types). The different level access points permit a 8 level high construction without need of elevators, in conformity with urban legislation. Such access points conforms the covered leisure spaces of the block. The skywalks, whose metallic structure sets them apart of the rest of the building, connect the buildings in the same level as the access points. The building system of structural masonry has been used on most of the building, but on the entrance of the courtyards reinforced concrete has been employed. The apartment`s distribution and the use of colors set visually the buildings apart, without losing the notion of the whole block. The project has been accomplished with in the Sao Paulo City Hall Program for Poor-area Re-Urbanization, through the Secretary of Housing. (Story by Nina Mendes)