Oripaba

History

Oripaba belongs to the wave that verticalised the head of Alameda Lorenai between the 1960s and 1970s, when the stretch between Rua Guarará and Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônioi swapped houses for towers and named almost all of them in Tupi or in the Latin of the sky — Guaracema, Andrômeda, Paracatu, Apiúna, Turmalina. The condominium was formally constituted before the Federal Revenue Service in May 1987, and that is the earliest date that can be documented about the building; those selling it today describe it as a building with a 1970s aesthetic, and the design agrees — two low, wide towers on a 1,140 m² plot, with one parking space per flat and sizes ranging from 110 to 215 m². Neither the authorship of the project nor the builder is publicly documented and, for that reason, they are not attributed here.

• Concept: two towers instead of one. The plot was occupied by two independent volumes, each with its own lift, separated and served by a shared podium — an arrangement that gives every flat two free faces instead of one.
• Curiosities: the building’s generator doesn’t only power the common areas: it also covers security and one lift in each tower, so that neither one is left without a way up in a power cut. The lobby and the front landscaping went through a retrofit in the 2020s, with a new garden across the whole front of the plot, and the gym was built afterwards, on the ground floor — the building is newer inside than the date suggests.

Architecture and aesthetics

Two towers on a 1,140 m² plot, set back behind a front garden that serves as the entrance. The layout is the design decision: instead of a single block occupying the frontage, the building splits into two medium-sized volumes, each with a single lift, and gives back the void between them as ventilation and view. The city’s aerial photogrammetric survey measures 48.5 m across the built ensemble and a ground-floor podium of around 630 m² — the garage descends at least two basement levels. Inside, single-aspect floor plans and end-to-end windows in the living room: the front-facing units get north light. The architectural authorship is not publicly documented and, for that reason, is not attributed here.

Aesthetics and scarcity

Technical specifications

• Towers and units: 2 towers, with one lift in each. The number of storeys and units is not documented in a reliable public source and, for that reason, remains open.
• Sizes: from 110 to 215 m², with 2 to 4 bedrooms and up to 5 bathrooms; there are plans with a suite and a walk-in closet. The largest unit type in circulation measures 213.43 m².
• Parking: 1 in most units; the larger ones have 2, deeded and unassigned, on the 2nd basement level. There is an internal offer of an extra space for rent.
• Structural features: front garden, ground-floor gym, generator for common areas, security and one lift per tower, 24-hour staffed reception and parking across two basement levels.
• Registry and parameters: plot 1,140 m² (municipal tax registry) · 2 towers · measured height of the ensemble 48.5 m · podium footprint around 630 m² · private areas from 110 to 215 m² · 2 to 4 bedrooms · 1 to 2 parking spaces · condominium formally constituted before the Federal Revenue Service in May 1987 · registry jurisdiction 4º Registro de Imóveis de São Pauloi (Jardim Paulista subdistrict) · zoning ZM, Law 16.402/2016.

Leisure and facilities

• Ground-floor gym
• Front garden and green area
• 24-hour staffed reception
• Lift in each tower
• Generator for common areas, security and one lift per tower
• Parking across two basement levels

Location and surroundings

Points of interest · distances in metres

Jardim Paulista: the address

This is flat Jardim Paulistai — the stretch where Alameda Lorenai stops being the street of shop windows and becomes a resident’s street, between Rua Guarará and Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônioi. It’s the part of the neighbourhood almost no one describes properly: from here it’s a few minutes’ walk to Parque Ibirapuerai, you reach Avenida Paulistai without ever stepping onto an avenue, and bakery, market, pharmacy and restaurant are all sorted on foot, on the same block. The street-level trade is well established, the tree cover is old and the topography is rare for the city: here, there’s no climbing or descending. Those who live in this stretch traded the address of prestige for the address of routine — and tend not to go back.