Opened five years ago in São Paulo‘s increasingly hipster neighbourhood of Vila Buarque, the Caracol bar has since established itself as the preferred watering hole of the city’s creative scene, serving cocktails and wines paired with DJ sets in a laid-back yet stylish setting. Given this solid and loyal patronage, it wasn’t very surprising that this year’s hotly anticipated post-pandemic edition of CASACOR São Paulo, the biggest showcase of architecture and design in the Americas since 1986, a satellite Caracol bar would pop-up on the premises. Mind you, this year marks the event’s 35th anniversary, so reason enough to raise a glass…or two. But in fact, the bar is one of the many projects on display at the showcase, created by architect Brazilian architect Pedro Luiz de Marqui.
Occupying no less than 220 sqm. (2,,368 sq.ft.) on the premises of Conjunto Nacional, this year’s venue and an iconic 1950s architectural landmark by architect David Libeskind, it sees a setting marked by a bold us of colours, such as dark green, shades of gray, warm tones and a touch of pink and purple, and all offset by the building’s raw concrete shell. The entrance of Caracol bar is adorned by a colourful, 22-metre mural by Congolese artist Lavi Israel. Inside the bar, metallic hues are abundant, lending a slight futuristic edge to the many settings, but the aforementioned palette of colours firmly tilt the balance to cozy and welcoming. The bar’s piece de résistance undoubtedly is an eight-metre table, developed by the architect from Café Imperial granite stone in a brushed finish, and featuring a water course circulating from end-to-end through a pumping system and simply serving as a water mirror.
The next major feature undoubtedly is the bar, and although it may look makeshift from afar, the structure is eclectically paired with a lavish Paraná Monte Vitta marble top. A sculpture by artist Francisco Nuk, sourced from São Paulo-based Galeria Lume and resembling a distorted piece of furniture, adds the concept of dance to the premises. Furnishings are diverse, and include Coroa stools by designer Gustavo Bittencourt and first presented at this year’s showcase, in addition to the Egypt chairs by the late Finnish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara, Pietro Oliveira‘s Pachá armchairs, Dobras armchairs by Studio Niz, and Vinicius Ladivez‘ neon-coloured Jacaré benches. Meanwhile, there has been a certain emphasis on sustainability as wasteful work procedures have been avoided as much as possible. Equal attention has been given to lighting and light fixtures (open through Sep 11).
Caracol
Conjunto Nacional, Avenida Paulista 2073 (Consolação)
SP 01311-300 São Paulo
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
