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Set between a restored 20th-century building and a modern new vertical garden tower, the luxury hotel is uniting the city’s storied past with its cultural future
January 10, 2022
The recently opened Rosewood São Paulo, Rosewood Hotel & Resorts’ first property in South America, is a metropolitan oasis at the crossroads of culture and creativity. Composed of a meticulously restored historic structure – Matarazzo Maternity – an emblem of the city’s rich history, and a striking new vertical garden tower in the middle of the concrete sea, Rosewood São Paulo is a true exception in the urban landscape of São Paulo.
Spearheaded by entrepreneur Alexandre Allard, highly recognized for his involvement in the renaissance of the House of Balmain, the property is something of world-class excellence that is almost entirely Brazilian with a majority of the design materials both locally sourced and inspired by the country’s diverse culture. The hotel is also home to a groundbreaking collection of 450 site-specific artworks, all created in partnership with local artists whose work draws from the multiplicity of the country’s experience. Designed by leading international figures including the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, who was responsible for the new tower, and artistic director Philippe Starck, who created the hotel’s interiors, Rosewood São Paulo features 160 guestrooms and 100 Private Rosewood Suites available for purchase, spread across the two buildings. Combining contemporary sophistication with Brazilian elegance, Rosewood São Paulo epitomizes the imaginative essence of its dynamic city as well as the rich legacy of São Paulo’s citizens.
Rosewood São Paulo is set within the historical enclave of Cidade Matarazzo, a seven-acre complex of elegantly preserved buildings from the early 20th century that have been carefully transformed into private residences, high-end stores and entertainment venues. The transformation of the heritage buildings is rooted in sustainability and makes Cidade Matarazzo Brazil’s largest upcycling project, with a focus on celebrating and protecting the country’s cultural heritage and natural environment.
Anchoring the 30,000 square-meter mixed-used lifestyle hub, Rosewood São Paulo occupies the new vertical garden tower and Matarazzo Maternity, a historic former hospital that holds great symbolic significance and sentimental meaning to the city as more than 500,000 Brazilians were born there.
Deactivated in 1993 after being tragically shut down and abandoned for over 20 years, Matarazzo Maternity was rediscovered in 2008 by Allard who saw great potential in its traditional yellow Tuscan architecture, resembling an Italian villa with beautiful gardens, and wanted to inject a revived energy into the beloved space. Fully restored by restoration architects with the highest restrictions, Matarazzo Maternity was reconstructed using white dolomitic limestone magnesium marble, made in southern Brazil. Honored as a place where life begins, the team was committed to preserving the building’s heritage and joyful spirit while instilling fresh life in a renewed space for the future of Brazil. The property’s new vertical garden tower was designed by Nouvel and combines modern architecture with the exuberance of Brazilian nature. Covered in wood and wrapped in generous nature, the vertical garden tower features 10,000 trees and rises 100 meters into the sky, a continuation of the Matarazzo gardens and a tribute to the neighboring park. Sustainable features executed in the tower’s design include a biodiversity program that repopulates the indigenous for the flora and fauna from the Mata Atlantica rainforest, including 250 trees up to 14 metres in height placed vertically on the Mata Atlantica Tower. Unlike anything else in the world, the new tower is a symbol for São Paulo that will last for years to come.
Other historic buildings featured on property include the beautiful Santa Luzia Chapel, that was carefully restored to retain its original architecture from 1922. Throughout the restoration work the architects carefully unearthed and discovered bits and pieces of a rich and intricately adorned building. This joyful discovery led the property to incorporate the details that were found, many of which were hidden under layers and layers of paint and plaster, into the internal and external look of the restored edifice. After a period of lying dormant, the chapel has reopened timed to its 100-year anniversary where it will continue to be used for weddings and other celebrations of life.
The former hospital building and the adjacent new tower are connected by a lush and manicured garden lined path in a nod to the city's urban green spaces. Matarazzo Maternity houses 46 rooms and suites as well as the hotel’s six restaurants with the remaining 114 rooms and suites and 100 Private Rosewood Suites occupying the vertical garden tower.
Under the artistic direction of Starck, every interior design element of the hotel is thoughtful and deliberate, taking inspiration from its architectural grandeur, its heritage, and the city’s creativity. Fusing old and new, the interiors reflect a 21st-century boldness and modernity while highlighting the country’s natural environment and deep legacy. The rich and natural beauty of Brazilian wood, marble quarried from the Brazilian states of Paraná and Bahia and lush garden walls naturally compliment the refurbished Italian architectural elements and the finest furnishings made by Brazilian designers with raw materials from throughout the country. Earth tones, and organic swoops and curves take center stage, while green spaces form an urban oasis in the outdoor areas, incorporating the location’s cultural traits.
Rosewood São Paulo also brings six new dining venues that have all been distinctively designed to reflect immersive and unique spaces. Overlooking the Mata Atlantica Tower, the elegant Le Jardin is a type of glasshouse structure that extends from the lobby to the beautiful gardens and is a cozy space bathed in natural light. Blaise, inspired by French-Swiss novelist Blaise Cendrars, is a casual brasserie designed to highlight the imagination of the novelist who was himself enamored with Brazil. Blaise’s wooden walls are embedded with green stones, each made of glass created through a meticulous technique of polishing Brazilian volcanic stones that is done by the same machines used to cut diamonds. Each stone took nearly 40 types of stages to complete. The third restaurant, Taraz, highlights South American cuisine and is located in front of the property’s collection of centenary olive trees. The restaurant has been decorated by local artists and designers in a more traditional and rustic style, and through its name gives homage to the beloved Brazilian historical figure Count Matarazzo.
Additional culinary outlets including Rabo di Galo, a 1930s-inspired jazz bar features leather furniture, dark woods and indirect lighting to create an intimate atmosphere. Inspired by the natural beauty of the crystal-clear pools in Brazil’s Bonito municipality, The Emerald Garden Pool & Bar is a restaurant set amidst beautiful tropical greenery offering family-friendly fare. The interior of the pool emulates the emerald shades of the natural pools found in Brazil’s Bonito region and is made of small pieces of tile in 40 different shades of green and blue, creating a unique gradient effect inspired by the colors of the rivers located in Bonito. The pool area is also home to Belavista Rooftop Pool & Bar, an exclusive adults-only space with panoramic views of the city. The entire roof and pool area features wood that is all from Tora Brasil and that has been certified by Brazil’s Forest Stewardship Council as part of the property’s commitment to sustainable development.
Following Rosewood’s guiding A Sense of Place® philosophy, wherein the destination inspires each element of the property, the hotel’s interiors are full of details that are a nod to Brazil’s history and culture. Home to a permanent collection of more than 450 works of art from 57 Brazilian artists and artisan, Rosewood São Paulo is committed to celebrating and recognizing Brazilian artistry and creativity.
Treating the property’s collection like a once-in-a-lifetime art project, Stark commissioned artists representing Brazil’s wide range of artist expression, from street art to indigenous art, to create site-specific works for virtually every space in the property. Each artist was given creative reign and one guideline: creativity that respects the past yet points to the future. The result is that the hotel is in effect Brazil’s next great contemporary art museum, one that celebrates the natural beauty, rich history, and diverse culture of its homeland.
Throughout the property, art tells different stories of life in Brazil across various mediums including sculpture, paintings, tile work, drawings, textiles and rugs. The collection also features multi-media installations, most notably a video display in the lobby depicting scenes of the Brazilian rainforest. All meant to provoke thought and discussion, the art invites guests and visitors to take a deeper look at their surroundings in hopes they leave with a better understanding of the destination.
Standout pieces await at every turn, including hand-painted titles inspired by different flora and fauna of Brazil, created by Brazilian contemporary artist Sandra Cinto, that line the entire rooftop pool and bar area; a powerful graffiti-inspired painting encapsulating one of the maternity building’s corridors created by São Paulo’s own beloved street artist Caligrapixo, whose work focuses on capturing urban life in the dynamic city; the work of up-and-coming artist Virgilio Neto, who created a series of original drawings on the rooftop foyer depicting imagined stories of the life of the beloved historical figure Count Matarazzo; a vertical sculpture that exists across three floors in the grand staircase by Artur Lescher, a sculptor from São Paulo known for his art installments across the city; hanging from the fifth floor corridor is a suspended sculpture featuring a gold finished replica of a leaf that artist Laura Vinci collected in the Matarazzo gardens; a rug tapestry in the lobby created and designed by the renowned artist and art educator Regina Silvera, showcases the colors of the destination’s seasons with playful and unique depictions of some of Brazil’s native insects featured; within the Santa Luzia Chapel, Vik Muniz, one of Brazil’s most internationally acclaimed artists, created new glass rosettes inspired by Santa Luzia to replace the original stained glass that was discovered during the restoration of the building; Blaise, the hotel’s French-Swiss brasserie, showcases hand-designed ceramic tiles by Fernando de La Rocque that resemble classical Portuguese tiles but if observed closer, hidden in the composition of is an image of a woman giving birth, a nod to its location in Matarazzo Maternity; Artist Rodrigo de Azevedo Saad, locally known as Cabelo, spent a total of 68 hours hand drawling on the ceiling of Rabo di Galo, the hotel’s jazz bar, which portrays a certain schizophrenic art resulting in the magical and primitive universe of patterns that repeat themselves; and the coasters and menus for Emerald Garden Pool & Bar were designed by the Brazilian artist and illustrator Walmor Correa, famous for his sketches of imaginary creatures.
The entirety of the property’s unique collection will be captured and outlined in a master art book available for guests and visitors both in rooms and public spaces, telling the in-depth and nuanced stories behind each project and highlighting how they fit each into the larger tapestry of Brazil’s creative scene.
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts® manages 26 one-of-a-kind luxury hotels, resorts and residences in 15 countries, with 26 new properties under development. Each Rosewood property embraces the brand’s A Sense of Place® philosophy to reflect the individual location’s history, culture and sensibilities. The Rosewood collection includes some of the world’s most legendary hotels and resorts, including The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel in Paris, as well as new classics such as Rosewood Hong Kong. For those who wish to stay a little longer, Rosewood Residences offer a distinct opportunity for ownership or rent in extraordinary destinations within the brand’s wide-ranging portfolio
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