Daniel Talesnik; Andres Lepik

For decades, São Paulo has seen investments in architectural infrastructures that help alleviate the lack of public space in the megacity. Many of these projects also provide São Paulo’s 12 million inhabitants with access to recreational, cultural, and athletic programs, much-needed in this dense metropolis of tremendous inequality, high crime rates, severe traffic issues, and serious public health problems. Access for All: São Paulo’s Architectural Infrastructures presents a selection of these public-, public-private-, and privately owned buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure projects at different scales that attempt to create inclusive places for urban society to thrive. Access for All looks partly at how the city is designed incrementally by architects at the building scale. Conversely, it shows how the accumulated built logic of the city has an impact on its architecture and public spaces. The installation emphasizes how architecture weaves in and out of the city, blurring the boundaries between buildings and the public realm. Sidewalks merge into ramps, stairs, and escalators, and at times reappear in the cityscape as elevated or sunken plazas, rooftop terraces, and gardens.

Image 1 – How will we live together?
The Centros Educacionais Unificados, including Inácio Monteiro, anchor their surrounding neighborhoods. Beyond serving as schools, they are community centers, providing multiple other programs.

Photo: Danilo Zamboni and Architekturmuseum der TUM

Image 2 – Sneak peek of the project
Centro Cultural São Paulo has become a destination for people all over the city, which is facilitated by its integration into the city’s transportation system via the Vergueiro subway station.

Photo: Ciro Miguel and Architekturmuseum der TUM

Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München
Förderverein des Architekturmuseums der Technischen Universität München e.V.
Fakultät für Architektur an der Technischen Universität München

Installation organized and supported by Architekturmuseum of the TUM
Curatorial Project: Daniel Talesnik
Museum Director: Andres Lepik
Assistants: Joao Bittar Fiammenghi, Marcello Della Giustina, Pia Nurnberger, Anna List, Mariana Lourenco, Anna-Maria Meister
Graphic Design: Kathryn Gillmore
Architectural Design: Mariana Vilela Munich
Construction Team: Andreas Bohmann, Thomas Lohmaier
Preservationist: Anton Heine
Plans: Guilherme Pianca, Gabriel Sepe und Team
Illustrations: Danilo Zamboni
Interviews and Film: Pedro Kok
Interviewees: Marta Moreira, Renato Cymbalista, and Alexandre Delijaicov
Editing: John Wriedt, Dawn Michelle d’Atri, and Camila Schaulsohn
Translations: Daria Ricci
With contemporary photographs by Ciro Miguel