Pamplona Square is a peculiar project because, although it contains the restoration of an eclectic São Paulo residence, already with modern features in terms of construction technique, carried out between the 1930s and 1940s, it is not the main focus of this intervention because of the intrinsic value of the building, but rather the way in which its preservation determined the entire architectural development of the complex, from the implantation to the plastic configuration of each of its buildings.
Originally isolated in a large area of more than 6,000 m2, the mansion was short-lived as a residence and, at the end of the 1950s, it was occupied by the Institute of Theoretical Physics, a research foundation, which built a series of small buildings there without any guiding criteria.
What the project proposes at the moment is the introduction of a commercial tower of significant proportions - 18,000m2 - associating it with the redesign of the very concept of this scientific research center and the preserved building, with two main objectives in mind: unity, integration between its segments and balance of the whole.
Emphasizing the originally existing access, the project defines a long axis of penetration into the area that, while allowing the integration of the dissociated segments of the plot, articulates the urban roads that delimit it, Silvia and Pamplona Streets, also articulating, in its path, the set of buildings to be implanted and the open spaces. This is an orderly layout of great importance for the overall structure of the new environment.
The Research Center occupies the heart of the plot, delimiting the open spaces there. Next to the right-hand side, at a lower level than the main access and the level at which the pre-existing residence was built, and with only 3 floors, it operates as a plastically significant plan on the scale of the square.
The theater, on the other hand, was built in a recess of the plot, independent from all the other buildings, and its expression is essentially from the central squares.
Due to its different formal characteristics, it tends to attract plastic perception in the central area of the plot without, however, establishing any formal link with the pre-existing building. As mentioned above, it relates directly to the Research Center on the lower level defined by the lowered square.
Team:
Architecture: Kruchin Arquitetura
Author: Samuel Kruchin
Coordination: Aline Stievano
Collaborating architects: Peter Ribon, Agda Piazzon, Isis Beretta, Lucas Leite, Renata Mello, Larissa Carrelli, Cristiane Gonçalves, Alexandre Martins, Gustavo Guedes, André Bernardi, Renata Gouveia, Mariana Hetem, Natalia Ferrari.
Photography: Daniel Ducci
Designers and consultants:
Landscaping: Benedito Abbud
Decoration: Patricia Anastassiadis
Concrete structure: NG engenharia
Metal Structure: Ernesto Tarnockzy
Concrete Consulting: PHD Consultoria em concreto
Foundation: Portela e Alarcon
Installations: SKK engenharia
Fireman: Claudinei Passoni
Air conditioning: Teknika
Lighting: Mingrone Iluminação
Window Frame Consultancy: MN Consultoria
Waterproofing: Proassp
Acoustics: Akkerman
Elevators: Empro - Comercio e Engenharia de Transporte Vertical
Digital Theater Consulting: Sciss e Visual Acuity
Construction: Tegra Incorporadora
