Puneet Varma (Editor)

Edifício Copan

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Country
  
Construction started
  
1952

Floor count
  
42

Floors
  
35

Architectural style
  
Modern architecture

Current tenants
  
2,038

Completed
  
1961

Height
  
115 m

Opened
  
1966

Number of rooms
  
1,160

Edifício Copan httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Client
  
Companhia Pan-Americana de Hotéis e Turismo

Architects
  
Oscar Niemeyer, Carlos Alberto Cerqueira Lemos

Similar
  
Edifício Itália, Altino Arantes Building, Martinelli Building, Luz Station, Pátio do Colégio

Edif cio copan completa 50 anos


The Edifício Copan (Copan Building) is a 118.44-metre (459 ft.) tall, 38-story residential building in downtown São Paulo, Brazil. It has 1,160 apartments and is one of the largest buildings in Brazil.

Contents

Map of Edif%C3%ADcio Copan - Av. Ipiranga, 200 - Centro, S%C3%A3o Paulo - SP, 01046-010, Brazil

Design, construction and name

The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer's office in São Paulo; Niemeyer was personally responsible for the building's famous sinuous façade. The idea was a building open to a mixed cross-section of Brazilian society. The original project envisioned two buildings, the other being a hotel, but in the end only the residential building was built.

Construction began in 1952 and, following some interruptions, was completed in 1966. It is one of the largest buildings in Brazil.

The building's name is an acronym for its original developer, Companhia Pan-Americana de Hotéis e Turismo (Portuguese for "Pan-American Hotels and Tourism Company").

Facilities

Currently, the building has 1,160 apartments, ranging from small studios to large three-bedroom units, and 2,038 residents, served by 20 elevators and 221 underground parking spaces. The ground floor is home to 72 businesses and establishments including (since the 1990s) an evangelical church, a travel agency, a bookstore, and 4 restaurants. Its site is 10,572.80 square meters (113,805 square feet) in area.

Due to the large number of residents, the Brazilian postal service assigned the building its own postal code ("CEP"): 01046-925. The current condominium has over 100 employees to serve residents and to conduct maintenance.

Niemeyer's original design contained a park outside the building, a second park in an open area of the first floor, and a roof-deck. The park outside is now used by a bank building; the first floor park and roof-deck are closed.

Since 2014 the entire building has been covered by a transparent blue-black drape, to protect pedestrians from the facade's loose mosaic tiles.

The Copan Building has inspired writers, filmmakers, photographers, and other artists from all over the world. A short story collection titled Arca sem Noé - Histórias do Edifício Copan ("Ark without Noah - Stories from the Copan Building"), by Brazilian author Regina Rheda, was published in Portuguese in 1994 and won the 1995 Jabuti prize in Brazil. It has also been published in English as Stories From the Copan Building, within the volume First World Third Class and Other Tales of the Global Mix (University of Texas Press).

The building is available to build in the 2013 game SimCity.

References

Edifício Copan Wikipedia