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A symbol of São Paulo's modernity in the 1970s, Jorge Zalszupin's brutalist building, with a 1.000 m² base and 22 floors, lost its function, relevance, and tenants and today remains empty, covered in graffiti, and forgotten, awaiting a new project to restore its prestige.
Na Avenida Paulista, a brutalist building stands out, attracting attention both for its bold architecture and for its current state of abandonment.
Completed in 1974 and initially named Aquarius Building, the building now known as Paulista Tower It is a symbol of an era of modernization in the capital of São Paulo, but it is currently experiencing a period of pause, degraded and empty, awaiting a new chapter in its history.
An architectural landmark of the 1970s
The Torre Paulista was born in a period in which the Avenida Paulista began to establish itself as the city's main financial hub.
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The world's largest stadium in 1950 was Brazilian, surpassing the 183 seats of Hampden Park and becoming the largest stadium in the world at the time, thanks to its massive architecture.
The project was designed by architect and designer Jorge Zalszupin — a Polish citizen who became a Brazilian citizen and is renowned for his modern furniture creations — in partnership with José Gugliotta and José Maria de Moura Pessoa.
Built on a 3.144 m² plot of land, the building brought an innovative proposal for the time.
The building stood out for not being just another ordinary commercial building, but a piece of architecture that profoundly marked the landscape and helped give Paulista Avenue its identity as a showcase for the most modern developments in the state of São Paulo.
With a 20-meter front and almost 120 meters deep, the building crosses the block from end to end, with two entrances: the main one, on Paulista itself, and a secondary one, via Alameda Santos.
There are 22 floors, four elevators and more than 130 parking spaces — numbers that were impressive in the 1970s.
Bold architecture and unique volumetry
The difference of the Torre Paulista is in its curvilinear and progressively tapered architecture, which resembles a “slide".
From the ground floor to the top, the floors decrease in size: the base is almost 1.000 m², while the top floor is just over 300 m².
What stands out most is the boldness of its form: it is a building that impresses with its striking volume and its lack of fear of being different.
Constructed of reinforced concrete, the building faithfully represents the brutalism of the 1970s. The decision to use a curved tower was intended to break with the monotony of the straight blocks that dominated the avenue's landscape.
The intention was to create something that would break with the straight blocks that already dominated Avenida Paulista.
The answer to this objective was the development of a curved tower, which tapers as it rises, evoking the idea of a sculpture — all while meeting the requirements of the legislation.
Due to its unique design, the building attracted the attention of the Japanese bank Sumitomo, who acquired it and established his headquarters there, identifying similarities between the structure and traditional temples in Japan.
Over the years, the building has also housed law offices, travel agencies and trade unions.
From the mansion to the concrete tower
Before the verticalization, the land was occupied by a mansion at number 118, belonging to the Monteiro Soares family in its final years.
According to city records, construction of the residence was authorized in June 1916 and, the following year, it was already inhabited.
In 1927, Claudio Monteiro Soares appears as the owner in telephone records.
Like many historic buildings on the avenue, the mansion was eventually demolished to make way for São Paulo's vertical growth and the emergence of the Torre Paulista.
Loss of relevance and beginning of abandonment
Over time, the building's function changed. In the 2000s, Torre Paulista still housed commercial activities, but it no longer held the same prominence as it did when Paulista Avenue was the city's financial center.
The migration of banks and large corporations to Avenida Faria Lima marked the beginning of the building's decline. Occupancy rates declined, and its use was limited to occasional activities.
The Hard Rock Hotel Promise
In 2019, an announcement rekindled hope for the building's revitalization.
The first São Paulo branch of the Hard Rock Hotel chain would be located at this address, with 230 rooms and an estimated investment of R$100 million. The project was scheduled for completion in 2021.
Shortly before the pandemic, the property manager decided not to renew the leases and vacated the building to begin renovations.
However, the project never got off the ground. Although the announcement was made, nothing has materialized to date.
Everything indicates that the Hard Rock management company underwent changes of direction in Brazil, which led not only to the stagnation of this initiative, but also to the suspension or cancellation of several other ventures planned by the brand in the country.
Currently, the building belongs to a fund managed by a property management company, which is responsible for negotiating its lease. The promise of transforming it into a hotel remains on paper, and the building remains abandoned.
In contact with the report of Estadão, Residence Club, responsible for the Hard Rock Hotel in São Paulo, responded that it is “in negotiations with Savoy, owner of the Torre Paulista building, to define the next steps and the future of the project".
No forecast was given for the start of works or the inauguration.
An icon awaiting rebirth
Today, the Torre Paulista is in a state of visible abandonment: broken windows, graffiti and a total lack of activity.
What was once a symbol of modernity and verticalization in the capital of São Paulo now lies in silence, emptied of its history and without clear prospects for the future.
The brutalist building that once helped define the identity of Avenida Paulista remains there, like a sleeping giant in the heart of the city.
Between memories of its glorious past and unfulfilled promises of revitalization, it awaits the chance to once again be a protagonist — this time, perhaps not as a bank headquarters or corporate building, but as a living part of São Paulo's urban and cultural fabric.
Until that happens, the Torre Paulista remains imposing and silent, witnessing the passage of time and the transformation of the landscape around it.
Its fate is still uncertain, but its architectural and symbolic value remains intact, awaiting a project capable of rescuing its relevance and returning it to the prominent place it has always occupied in the city's history.
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