Jean Nouvel’s hanging gardens in São Paulo

For almost eighty years, São Paulo’s Condess Filomena Matarazzo Maternity hospital had been delivering babies. In fact, by the time the facility closed, the hospital had delivered an estimated half million babies. The hospital officially “closed for business” twenty years ago; however it remains an icon to many of the city’s residents as nearly all were either born there or know someone who was.

It was too controversial to raze the quintessential building. Luckily, the French entrepreneur, Alexandre Allard,  discovered the abandoned site and acquired it with a distinct purpose in mind. The ambitious real estate developer (courtesy of Forbes) “saw it as a ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ rich in local history and filled with promise for the future.”

The new luxury property opened as Rosewood São Paulo; it is comprised of 160 guest rooms and 100 residences. The Pritzker Prize-winning starchitect Jean Nouvel was tasked with building a new tower to join the existing one. Rather than a simple high-rise, Nouvel designed a vertical “garden tower” that stands almost 300-feet-tall. The fascinating tower features a latticed Cotten-steel facade. Plants and trees are planted across the staggered terrace that was designed around the building and throughout the path that connects the former maternity ward to the new section.

The Paris-based Ateliers worked together with Allard and his team at Group Allard to create Cidade Matarazso, an almost 2 million-square-foot complex of historic buildings. The area is considered by many to be an urban oasis; as such, the city felt strongly about regenerating the center.

The Rosewood Tower was initially scheduled to open in 2019; however like the everywhere else, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the grand opening for two years. In addition to guest rooms and residences, the tower features two restaurants, a bar, a caviar lounge, three swimming pools, and a spa.

Perhaps the most important feature is that the building borders Matarazzo Park… the architecture was designed so that the building feels as though it is an extension of the park. About the site, Nouvel said the following during a press release (courtesy of In Habitat), “Matarazzo Park is a remnant. More than a remnant, I would say it’s an oasis. It’s a space of calm urbanisation. A space of incredible trees: figs and magnolias. The hospital in the middle of the grounds is a sort of mini-town, very well organised around patios. Surrounding this little gem is a chaotic metropolis. What is most interesting for me is being able to work with the memory of the place.”

Not to be outdone, the innovative landscaping was designed by Louis Bench, an Architectural Digest Hall of Fame winner. In order to provide visual interest, Atlantic plants juxtaposition with mature olive trees. To present a seamless flow, the terraces’ green planes house the same tree species as those in the adjacent park.

Novuel invented (courtesy of the Ateliers’ web site), ” the hanging gardens of São Paulo with luxuriant greenery and outrageously stunning views.” As such, the tower is a wonderful representation of how a multi-storied apartment building can be used in modeling the “art of living that’s capable of progressively defining São Paulo.”

The interior was handed off to the French designer Philippe Starck. As the project’s artistic director, the interiors were influenced by Brazil; specifically, the residences’ materials “will be made to belong to the Brazilian countryside, to Brazil, to the land of the redwood tree.” Inside, there are 450 artwork pieces by 57 Brazilian artists. For example, the lobby is adorned by tapestries by Regina Silveira and bespoke green-and-white tiles by Sandra Cinto line the rooftop pool. It was important to weave the country’s story into each element.

As Radha Arora, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts president said, “Our first hotel in São Paulo is woven into every element of the hotel in both brand and delicate stroke.” Amazing!