In the midst of São Paulo’ s stone jungle, choosing the most beautiful building in São Paulo is no easy task. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? But if we could choose a building that deserves this title, Torre Mata Atlântica would be a sure-fire choice.
Home to the luxurious Rosewood São Paulo – twice voted the best hotel in South America – the tower impresses anyone who passes near Avenida Paulista. That’s because it’s much more than a building: it’s a vertical forest!
Atlantic Forest Tower combines architecture and sustainability
Until 1993, the site where São Paulo’s most beautiful building now stands was home to a hospital complex, with the Umberto I Hospital and the Condessa Filomena Matarazzo Maternity Hospital. After 20 years of neglect, the site passed into the hands of the French group Allard, who decided to build a luxury hotel there.
To do this, the owners decided to revitalize the old buildings and build a large tower to house the Rosewood São Paulo. This gave birth to the Mata Atlântica Tower, whose architectural design was the responsibility of Jean Nouvel. Winner of the Pritzker Prize, the Frenchman has designed great icons such as the Agbar Tower (Barcelona) and the Arab World Institute (Paris), and is one of the biggest names in contemporary architecture.
The Mata Atlântica Tower brought an unprecedented concept to São Paulo: the landscape building. At 100 meters high and with more than 20 floors, the tower diverges from traditional architecture by incorporating gardens into its infrastructure, creating a suspended forest. Thus, in addition to suites and apartments, the tower houses a green sanctuary in the city.
Get to know São Paulo’s hanging garden
Today, the Mata Atlântica Tower is an example of unique and sustainable architecture. Its wooden slatted façade coexists in harmony with more than 200 trees, some over 10 meters tall. As the name suggests, they all belong to species native to the Atlantic Forest, such as jacarandas and jatobás, forming a suspended tropical forest.
Thus, those who pass by Rosewood São Paulo enjoy a spectacle of engineering and nature, which changes its appearance as the seasons go by. After all, the plants on the façade grow every day, transforming the Mata Atlântica Tower into a living organism in the heart of the capital.
