The urban painting project for the façades of houses and stores in the traditional São Paulo Italian district of Bixiga was developed to meet the requirements of the “Color São Paulo Program”, which is dedicated to preserving the city’s architectural heritage in districts of cultural, historic and commercial interest.  The design proposal incorporated the traditional colors of Bixiga – green, white and red from the Italian flag – that were used on house and store facades covering a two block area.  The greatest challenge posed by the design was to intervene in an urban context with a strong cultural heritage while taking into account the diversity of interests and preferences among local traders and residents.

“I admire the simplicity and sensibility created by the carefully chosen color palettes. This concept creates not only beauty at street level, but also uplifts the sense of community as a whole. It provides under-privileged communities the opportunity to re-invent their neighborhood in an affordably and quickly with simply buckets of paint! It embodies for me what design can, should and must do.”  –Stefanie Kubanek, Pentagram

Contact: Marcel Abreu: [email protected]

Credit: Bruno R. Padovano, Suzana M. Sacchi Padovano and Alessandro Sacchi Padovano of Padovano Arquitetura em Rede Ltda. (Brasil) for Akzo Nobel Ltda.