Casablanca

History

Alameda Casa Brancai is a little over a kilometre long. It starts on Avenida Paulistai, at the level of Parque Trianoni, and ends on Rua Estados Unidos — and it is precisely this upper stretch, between Alameda Itu and Alameda Francai, that was the first to become established as residential, in the shade of Colégio Dante Alighierii, founded in 1911 on the corner with Alameda Jaú. Casablanca belongs to that generation of buildings that traded the houses of the Jardinsi for a few large-scale apartments. The street’s name, incidentally, comes neither from the building nor from the film: as with other streets in the neighbourhood, it is the name of a town in the interior of São Paulo state.

• Concept: house-scale floor space in an alameda building — 350 m² with three suites, a generous balcony and private storage, on a block with short-distance traffic and half a century of tree cover.
• Trivia: the façade is marked by concrete arches, the gesture that identifies the building from afar on the alameda. The name repeats across the city — there are at least four other “Casablanca” buildings in São Paulo, at completely different addresses — and here only the alameda’s number resolves the confusion.

Architecture and aesthetics

A street-front building, set back with gardens on the sides, whose visual signature is the concrete arches of the façade. Inside, the floor plan is from the good vintage of the Jardinsi: an open-plan social area with living room, dining room, pantry and kitchen, plus an extra room that today becomes a home office or a snug; a private area with three suites, the master with two closets and two bathrooms. The balcony is the protagonist — it functions as an extension of the social area, with a gourmet space and landscaping on the sides, and on the higher floors it opens onto the treetops of the alameda. The architectural project’s authorship is not publicly documented and, for that reason, is not credited here.

Aesthetics and scarcity

Technical specifications

• Towers and units: 1 tower.
• Sizes: 350 m² in total (about 342 m² of usable apartment area plus a private storage unit of approximately 8 m² in the garage), with 3 bedrooms, all suites, and 5 bathrooms.
• Parking: 3, with private storage.
• Structural highlights: gourmet balcony with barbecue and side landscaping, concrete-arch façade, generator for the common areas.
• Registry and parameters: 1 tower · 3 bedrooms · 3 suites · 5 bathrooms · 3 parking spaces · private area of 350 m² · private storage of ~8 m².

Leisure and facilities

• Gym
• Function room
• Playground
• Garden
• Generator for the common areas
• Visitor parking

Location and surroundings

Points of interest · distances in metres

Jardim Paulista: the address

Alameda Casa Brancai is one of the most residential and tree-lined streets in the Jardinsi, and the Casablanca’s stretch is the most sheltered part of it: there the alameda has already left behind the noise of Avenida Paulistai and has not yet reached the bustle of the commercial core. On one side, Parque Trianoni and MASP a few minutes’ walk away; on the other, Rua Oscar Freirei and Club Athletico Paulistanoi on the same walking scale. Colégio Dante Alighierii is the corner neighbour — a decisive factor for families, and one of the reasons apartments in this stretch rarely come to market. It is a piece of the city that does not depend on novelty: the street grid, the street-level shops and the trees have been in place for decades, and there is no plot left to develop.