eduardo camarena proposes a connected vertical city for são paulo

eduardo camarena proposes a connected vertical city for são paulo
all images courtesy of eduardo camarena

for his final master’s thesis project, architect eduardo camarena has proposed a vertical city located in downtown são paulo. the project comprises a group of vertically distributed public spaces combined with a pay-per-hour capsule hotel. the building floats over a further public area that expands and creates new pedestrian connections between the three sides of the city – previously separated by highways.

stacked internal volumes intersect or overlap, creating different relationships between the public programs, and contrasting the domestic scale of the hotel rooms. on some floors the separation consists of a simple curtain that every visitor can cross, while on others this partition is a movie screen, or simply nothing at all. the dual nature of the program provides space for both silence and contemplation in juxtaposition to the effervescent activity occurring simultaneously. consequently, the vertical city creates a new relationship between isolation and inclusion in são paulo.

public gardens under the top dome

experience of são paulo at night through a capsule

the public park surrounding the tower connects the different sides of the city separated by the highways

main section displaying the variety of public spaces in contrast to the private capsule hotel

section through the twisting shape of the building

cinemas stacked one over another over huge exhibition spaces

contrast in scale between the auditorium and the spaces from the hotel

double capsules are set in the last levels next to the offices

link between the habitable skin and the steel structure from the tower

3D printed prototype of one of the capsules

conceptual drawings of the design process

designboom has received this project through its ‘DIY submissions’ feature, which welcomes readers to submit their own work for publication. see more designboom readers submissions here.