b720's residential tower breaks the são paulo skyline with color

designed by b720 fermín vázquez architects, the newly-built 85-meter high forma itaim apartments tower is located in itaim bibi of são paulo. the neighborhood is in a deep transformation, and is moving from the traditional fabric of horizontal single-family homes to a skyline of buildings that meet a growing residential demand for a prosperous upper middle class. the building has 123 apartments and is a colorful tower of 25 floors with common areas on the first level (squash, indoor pool, restaurant, social room, etc.) and underground parking.

all images © nelson kon

the tower, highly conditioned by the volumetric limitations imposed by the regulations and the strict requirements of functional optimization, hosts small apartments with large individual terraces. b720’s project seeks to maximize the slenderness of the volume and be a highlight, without stridency, in the monotonous sea of undifferentiated skyscrapers of são paulo as a ‘singularity of good manners’.

the floors are articulated in two parallel bays and a central communications core that includes two batteries of panoramic elevators. the main openings of the houses are oriented to north and south, with deep balconies to mitigate the intense brazilian solar radiation, while the east and west facades, the most exposed in the climate of são paulo, are solved with a predominance of an opaque protected surface by a ventilated façade of large-format glazed ceramic pieces.

on the sides, the ceramic coating becomes lattices which preserve the house’s privacy and frame the views from the inside. the combination of colors of the covering pieces seeks the chromatic individualization of each level, as well as the research of singularity that provides the differential qualitative value sought out by the client, who specifically wanted a colorful tower. the building becomes a slender tower in which, however, it is possible to recognize the different housing units by the color and the framework that governs the construction. on the upper floors, the extension of the central core and larger apartments finish the building in a stepped way to merge with the urban profile and generate large terraces for the enjoyment of the unbeatable views over the city. 

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edited by: maria erman | designboom