Edifício Copan

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For other uses, see Copan (disambiguation).

Copan Building

Edifício Copan

Copan ST.jpg

Edifício Copan in downtown São Paulo

Edifício Copan is located in São PauloEdifício Copan

Location within São Paulo

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General information

CountryBrazil

Coordinates 23°32′47.82″S 46°38′39.75″WCoordinates: 23°32′47.82″S 46°38′39.75″W

Current tenants 2,038

Construction started 1952

Completed 1961

Client Companhia Pan-Americana de Hotéis e Turismo

Height 118.44 m (388.6 ft)

Technical details

Floor count 42

Design and construction

Architect Oscar Niemeyer, Carlos Alberto Cerqueira Lemos

Other information

Number of rooms 1,160

Parking 221

Website
www.copansp.com.br

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, 70 commercial establishments[1] and is one of the
largest buildings in Brazil.

Contents

1 Design, construction and name

2 Facilities

3 In popular culture

4 Gallery

5 See also

6 References

7 Bibliography

8 External links

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[2]

Since 2014 the entire building has been covered by a transparent blue-black drape, to protect
pedestrians from the facade's loose mosaic tiles.[2] A project to repair and replace the building's 72
million exterior tiles is currently under consideration.

With 42 floors.

In popular culture

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).[4]

The Copan Building appeared on the second episode of The Amazing Race 9 and was the site of a task in
which contestants had to run up one of the building's fire escapes and rappel down.[5]

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

Gallery

The Edifício Copan in its urban context

Façade

Fire staircases

Interior

See also

List of Oscar Niemeyer works

References

"Edifício Copan". April 30, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-04-26. Retrieved Nov 11, 2020.

"Welle im Betonmeer". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 21 April 2016.

"Edifício Copan" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2014-04-19.

Introduction to the volume First World Third Class and Other Tales of the Global Mix (University of
Texas Press, 2005), written by professor Christopher Dunn

Castro, Adam-Troy (2006). My Ox Is Broken!: Roadblocks, Detours, Fast Forwards and Other Great
Moments from Tv's 'the Amazing Race'. BenBella Books. p. 434. ISBN 9781941631454.