Cidade Jardim in São Paulo Expands to Include Home and Décor

São Paolo’s Cidade Jardim Gets a New Design-Focused Edition

This spring, São Paulo’s Cidade Jardim debuted its latest expansion, dedicated to architecture, design, and decor. The Home & Décor addition occupies more than 10,000 square meters, with over 20 brands, and features a central boulevard of open space and airy atrium all punctuated with sculptures by the Brazilian artist Artur Lescher.

Arthur Casas, the architect who designed Cidade Jardim 15 years ago, is also behind the new design-focused area. Special curation of shops and showrooms by Líder, By Kamy, Estudiobola, Natuzzi, Jader Almeida, Artelassê, AD.STUDIO, Camicado, Lola Home, Marcato, Palimanan, UD House, and Vallvé effortlessly connect to the rest of the shopping mall from JHSF.

Casas told Whitewall about a refreshing new vision for Cidade Jardim, while Paloma Danemberg of AD.STUDIO—one of the shops located within the Home & Décor wing—discussed a contemporary take on the world of antiques.

Arthur Casas Brings Function and Comfort to Cidade Jardim

WHITEWALL: Arthur Casas, you designed Cidade Jardim initially, back in 2008. It was designed to feel and function like a public gathering space. Did you want to bring that same inspiration and atmosphere to the Home & Décor section?

ARTHUR CASAS: Yes. In cities such as São Paulo, it is at the mall shopping center and not in the city streets where people meet. When we projected Cidade Jardim, 15 years ago, our idea was to somehow reproduce the experience of the sidewalk, the urban furniture, the square. There we created the internal garden with no roof, opened, with the city streets. It was not possible to have all these elements in the Home & Décor section, but many are there.

WW: What were some of the considerations you had in mind when designing for a design-focused market?

AC: I aimed to use few materials, and not to compete with the exposed pieces.

Natural Materials and Plant Life Fill Cidade Jardim’s Home & Décor Wing

WW: What materials were you drawn to incorporating?

AC: The wood already existed on the initial project, the terraza on the floor not, and mainly the tensioned illuminated ceiling, whose main objective is to virtually increase the ceiling height. The lighting fixtures in the central span were also exclusively designed, a partnership between lighting designer Maneco Quinderé and plastic artist Artur Lescher.

WW: A major feature of Cidade Jardim is the use of greenery and plant life. How did you bring natural materials and plant life into this space?

AC: We had to place vases with plants to reaffirm the vegetal element, so important to the original concept of the mall.

WW: Coming back to Cidade Jardim 15 years later, how did you want to reflect the spirit of São Paulo with the Home & Décor section?

AC: São Paulo is a plural city, with many “spirits.” This space was projected to an elite, accustomed to going to shopping malls for reasons of safety and convenience. São Paulo is always present in the work I develop here, in Brazil or abroad. Living in this city, we are obliged to develop an attentive, selective eye.

Cidade Jardim Welcomes New AD Studio Space by Paloma Danemberg

WW: Paloma Danemberg, can you tell us about the planned AD Studio space at Home & Décor in Cidade Jardim?

PALOMA DANEMBERG: The facade of the store is a large container, referring to the container that brings furniture from Europe to Brazil. It has references from cinema and theater in terms of lighting. The all-black store, with directional light, allows the honey-colored wood of our furniture and objects to gain prominence. Black bubble wrap covers the walls and also upholsters our sofa. The uniforms, signed by designer Marcelo Sommer, were designed from existing clothes, contributing to the reinforcement of the upcycling concepts of the store. Music curatorship is also a highlight, where rock and Black music invite the audience to a new experience.

WW: What kind of experience do you want to create for visitors?

PD: The store takes the visitor on a great trip back in time and at the same time causes different sensations by proposing, for example, a coffee table composition with a sled and a drink crate. We play with new forms of decoration. Get out of the obvious, use unusual pieces in an unusual way and common pieces in an unusual way.

WW: Can you tell us about how you came to found AD.STUDIO?

PD: I’m the third generation of antique dealers in my family. AD.STUDIO was born from a reflection on how I could perpetuate the family business with my truth, with a curatorship that would translate my identification with this universe. I usually say that my mission is to demystify the culture of antiques for future generations. Show how an old piece of furniture can be desired.

WW: How would you describe your particular eye for design?

PD: My view of the old is contemporary. I concede the resignification as my main source of exercise in introducing the old into the new and understand that furniture does not need to be limited to its original function. It can be multiple new functions if we look deeply without established preconceptions.

Danemberg’s Interiors Feature Antique Objects and Furniture

WW: What do antique objects bring into a home interior space?

PD: Ancient furniture primarily brings references of history and memory—a world that has passed, everything that has already been lived. And because they are so rich in this sense, they also warm up the house. They bring comfort. Our collection specifically manages to bring charm, coolness, particularity. Having a unique, old, restored piece is also a sustainable act. With that, I really like to reinforce the concept of circular decoration.

WW: What kind of stories do they tell?

PD: My focus is from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, in the transition from manual and handmade to industrial. I really like the craft pieces, which came from work and which were made for some reason, but I dislocate that reason and multiply them. We work essentially with pine and beech wood, honey color, with iron, metal, leather. I also have a lot of research with comics from the thirties to the sixties and also posters and advertising pieces. In addition, I am in love with the sports universe, and I present rackets, sleds, skis from the early 20th century.

WW: How would you describe the antique design market in São Paulo? In Brazil?

PD: Brazil is a country that has a very heated architecture and interior design market. People really like to take care of their homes. There is great self-esteem in relation to living. São Paulo usually brings together people from all over Brazil in search of references and innovations in the market.