Vila Itororó: the many lives of an architectural complex in the heart of São Paulo traduzido por: OPENROUTER

Those who enter Vila Itororó do not find an image that is easy to understand. The complex does not present itself as a single building, nor as a homogeneous village: there are houses on different levels, staircases, walls, gardens and constructions that seem to have been added to one another over time. This, in fact, is a good summary of its history.

(Nelson Kon/Instituto Pedra/CASACOR)

Located in Bela Vista, in an area once crossed by the waters of the Ribeirão do Itororó – a stream now buried beneath Avenida 23 de Maio –, the Vila began to be built in the early 20th century by the academic Francisco de Castro. The architectural project has eclectic origins: materials from other buildings became part of the construction, a common practice in a city marked by successive works and demolitions.

The Vila grew in this way: without the uniformity of a project carried out all at once, and with an architecture that, even today, reveals different moments of its construction.

Entrada da Vila Itororó. (Acervo Milu Leite/Vila Itororó/CASACOR)

At the top of the land, Castro built the mansion where he lived. Below it, he developed houses intended for rent and, in another part of the property, a leisure area around a swimming pool. The complex therefore brought together different functions within the same area: housing, real estate investment and spaces for socializing.

A village that kept changing

Dia a dia dos moradores da Vila Itororó. (Acervo Benedito Lima de Toledo/Vila Itororó/CASACOR)

Although it was inaugurated in 1922, the village continued to receive new constructions and interventions. Some of its decorative elements came, in fact, from the old Teatro São José, demolished in the central region of São Paulo.

After the death of Francisco de Castro, in 1932, the property was auctioned and acquired by Augusto Oliveira Camargo. Over the decades, transformations continued: houses were adapted, spaces were subdivided and new solutions emerged to meet the needs of the residents. The mansion itself underwent modifications to accommodate different families.

The process toward heritage status

Interest in preserving the Vila began to gain strength in the 1970s. A proposal to transform the site into a cultural center appeared in 1974. The idea did not move forward at the time, but the debate continued. Over the following decades, the Vila came to occupy a particular place in discussions about heritage in São Paulo. This was because its importance lay in the way it brought together different periods of the city, in the mixture of languages and materials, and in the history of those who had lived there.

(Fernando Stankuns/Instituto Pedra/CASACOR)

In 2002, the area that includes Vila Itororó was listed as heritage by Conpresp. Three years later, it was also listed by Condephaat. The decisions recognized the architectural importance of the complex, but also brought a delicate question to the forefront: how to preserve a place that continued to be, above all, a home?

In the years that followed, the process that would lead to its transformation into a cultural facility would be marked precisely by the tension between the desire for preservation, the projects for the future and the permanence of the residents.

Restoring without erasing history

Evento na Vila Itororó. (Camila Picolo/Instituto Pedra/CASACOR)

After expropriation, the Vila was allocated for cultural uses. In 2013, Instituto Pedra began, in partnership with the São Paulo City Hall, the studies for a new restoration project. The work required a detailed survey of the complex and the adaptation of the project to the conditions found.

(Camila Picolo/Instituto Pedra/CASACOR)

Construction began in 2016, and the first stage of the restoration was delivered in 2019. Today, Vila Itororó operates as a cultural center, hosting exhibitions, educational activities, workshops and different initiatives open to the public.

Its transformation into a cultural center is the result of a history marked by changes and different uses. Its architecture bears traces of its many other lives before reaching this point. More than that, today, the Vila offers another reading of what can be preserved: not an architecture frozen in time, but a place where different stories remain visible — sometimes side by side, sometimes overlapping, but almost always impossible to separate completely.

traduzido por: OPENROUTER