Ohtake Cultural Centre, São Paulo, Brazil

Those who travel by Faria Lima Avenue in Pinheiros, São Paulo in the direction of the fashionable Alto de Pinheiros, will notice a sixstorey office block with an unusual inverted trapeze form, one of the most modern buildings in the city.

Another construction in this area, with wavy forms in the façade, leading to Faria Lima Avenue and to the small access joining it to Pedroso de Morais Avenue, is the Tomie Ohtake Institute, the newest cultural centre in the city.

The development belongs to Laboratórios Aché, which when designing the office block, included a cultural centre and a convention centre. They gave the project to the architect Ruy Ohtake. The long service in project developments of the Ohtake Family was recognised by the naming of the building Ohtake and the cultural centre Instituto Tomie Ohtake.

The project used 12,000 m2 of glass, mostly Laminated Pilkington Suncool™ high performance glass. On entering the cultural centre, a glass door automatically opens, revealing a reception foyer 70 metres long, 12 metres wide and 10 metres high, encased in glass. This allows natural light to enter the building.

The project was awarded one of the six Biannual Architecture prizes awarded in Buenos Aires in November 2004.