The Architecture of the Duplex

What makes up the architecture of a region? Who decides on the aesthetic values and principles that guide how the development of a city unfolds? Does São Paulo genuinely have an architectural style?

Rammed earth is the name of a technique that consists in battering or pestling mud and wooden beams into a lath wall (the mud is incremented with other materials for better adhesion). It is made row by row, with enough time passing between each placement for the mud to dry.

The Pombaline Taipa is a mixed technique of Portuguese origin. It is comprised of a wooden beam structure (cage system) filled in with a mixture of earth and fibers, covered with soil plastering.

“The townhouses built throughout the 19th century show a slow approach by the coffee growing elites towards new forms of sociability in salons, large enough to host parties and soirees that brought together families, who were previously more reserved”.

In most of the rooms on the upper floor there are some recurring elements of the waterproof bar in imitation stone and “trompe l’oeil”, traces of decorative fillets, as well as pictorial mosaic treatments in the corners above the waterproof bar.

In the context of cultural and architectural heritage, words like restoration and conservation can often be found in the literature and research. However, on a day to day basis, it is the Cultural Heritage Stewardship that provides the essential care to the estates.

"Janitorial care, more than repairs, is the care you have constantly and permanently for what is dear to your society, which belongs to it as a form of identity”.

A part of the duplex’s executive restauration project implemented in 2023 by Estúdio Sarasá, with support from the São Paulo state government’s Cultural Action Program.

It's not just about changing a tile to protect it from the rain, but continuing the narrative of how to produce the tile, the types, formats, and giving visibility to the human journey in this production process.