Edifício Esther: discover the history of the modernist building that was once home to Di Cavalcanti traduzido por: OPENROUTER

The downtown São Paulo holds a large number of important buildings in the history of Brazilian architecture, and few are as striking as the Esther Building. Located in Praça da República, the building, inaugurated in 1938, marked a break from the predominant architectural styles of the time by adopting the principles of modernism, prioritizing functionality, rationality, and the integration between different uses.

Edificio Esther. (Francisco Baraglia/Wikimedia Commons/Divulgação)

The Esther became a true cultural hub, bringing together artists, architects, writers, and intellectuals who helped shape São Paulo's artistic production throughout the 20th century. Among its most famous residents was the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, one of the leading names of Brazilian modernism, as well as the architect Rino Levi, considered one of the great masters of national architecture.

Learn below about the history of this building that remains one of the greatest symbols of modern architecture in São Paulo.

The birth of a landmark of modern architecture

O arquiteto Álvaro Vital Brazil diante do Edifício Esther, projeto que ajudou a transformar a paisagem da Praça da República. (Divulgação/Divulgação)

The Esther Building was inaugurated in 1938, the result of a competition won by architects Álvaro Vital Brazil and Adhemar Marinho. The project represented a new way of thinking about the city, at a time when São Paulo was growing rapidly and beginning to incorporate the principles of modern architecture.

While many buildings still followed eclectic or art déco references, the Esther embraced a clean language, with few ornaments, well-defined horizontal lines, and functional floor plans. The reinforced concrete structure allowed innovative solutions for the time, prioritizing natural lighting, cross ventilation, and greater flexibility of the projects.

Edifício Esther em registro publicado na revista Acrópole, em 1939. (Leon Liberman/Revista Acrópole/Divulgação)

Its privileged location, facing Praça da República, was also part of the modern proposal to integrate architecture and the city.

An innovative building to live, work, and thrive

Even before mixed-use developments became a trend, the Esther Building already brought together apartments, offices, medical practices, and shops at a single address.

Plantas baixas dos pavimentos do Edifício Esther. (Divulgação/Divulgação)

The proposal brought different everyday activities closer together and created an intense urban life around the building. On the lower floors, commercial establishments operated, while the upper floors housed residences and workspaces for independent professionals.

Edifício Esther. (Jcornelius/Wikimedia Commons/Divulgação)

Another innovation was the duplex apartments, which appeared for the first time in a residential building in São Paulo. With two floors connected by an internal staircase, these units offered a new way of living and drew the attention of the city's intellectual elite.

The modernist features that made history

Interior do saguão do Edifício Esther em registro publicado na revista Acrópole, em 1939. (Leon Liberman/Revista Acrópole/Divulgação)

Although it has a discreet aesthetic when compared to later works of Brazilian modernism, the Esther Building brings together several features that turned it into an architectural reference.

Among them are:

• facades without excessive ornamentation

• reinforced concrete structure

• large windows that favor natural lighting and ventilation

• functional floor plans

• integration between retail, services, and housing

• solutions aimed at environmental comfort

Edifício Esther. (@prediosdesaopaulo/Instagram/Divulgação)

These concepts were extremely advanced for the 1930s and anticipated concerns that remain present in contemporary architecture, such as efficiency, rationality, and the quality of interior spaces.

The address chosen by architects, artists, and intellectuals

The Esther Building is also known for having become one of the most sought-after addresses by São Paulo's cultural elite. Between 1941 and 1944, the architect Rino Levi lived in apartment 901 and kept his office on the first floor of the building. Considered one of the pioneers of modern Brazilian architecture, his presence reinforced Esther's role as a center of architectural innovation.

O Teatro Cultura Artística reúne a arquitetura de Rino Levi e o mosaico criado por Di Cavalcanti, uma colaboração que se tornou um dos marcos do modernismo paulistano. (Nelson Kon/Divulgação)

Another illustrious resident was the couple formed by the painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and the artist Noêmia Mourão, who lived in one of the modern duplex apartments. The coexistence of architects, artists, doctors, journalists, and intellectuals turned the building into a fertile projects for the exchange of ideas and for the consolidation of modernist culture in São Paulo.

More than a residential complex, Esther became a space where art, architecture, and urban life coexisted on a daily basis.

The Esther Building and São Paulo's cultural effervescence

During the 1940s, the Esther Building housed the São Paulo headquarters of the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), where an exhibition hall with a small bar operated and became a meeting point for architects and artists. Among the new board were names such as Rino Levi, Sérgio Milliet, Paulo Rossi, and Pola Rezende.

No subsolo do Edifício Esther funcionou, por quase duas décadas, o Clube dos Artistas e Amigos da Arte, o famoso Clubinho, importante ponto de encontro da cena cultural paulistana. (Central Galeria/Divulgação)

The basement of the building also hosted, for almost two decades, the Club of Artists and Friends of Art, known as Clubinho. The space brought together artists, architects, and intellectuals, among them Di Cavalcanti, Rino Levi, Sérgio Milliet, and Paulo Mendes de Almeida, consolidating the Edifício Esther as one of the main hubs of São Paulo's cultural and modernist life.

traduzido por: OPENROUTER