The Matarazzo Empire
Francesco Antonio Maria Matarazzo was born in March 1854 in Castellabate, southern Italy. He was married to Filomena Sansivieri, with whom he had 13 children.
In 1881, at the age of 27, he immigrated to Brazil, searching for better living conditions. He became a businessman, banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and founder of the Matarazzo factories (1890), the Hospital Umberto I and Maternity Hospital Condessa Filomena Matarazzo (1904). In 1917 he was named Count by King Victor Emmanuel III for sending supplies to Italy during the First World War, and in 1922 he inaugurated the Santa Luzia Chapel at the request of Virginia Matarazzo, his sister-in-law, after the cure of a son's illness.
In 1943 the Condessa Filomena Matarazzo Maternity was inaugurated, especially for the birth of Count Matarazzo's daughter, and for a long time, it was considered the best in South America.
The buildings of the entire complex were idealized by the architects Luigi Pucci and Giulio Mecheli with a capacity of 250 beds, and its initial architecture was neoclassical.
The hospital complex grew throughout the 20th century and, in 1986, was declared a cultural asset of historical-architectural interest for the city of São Paulo by CONDEPHAAT (Council for the Defense of the Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Tourist Heritage of the State of São Paulo)
Cidade Matarazzo
In 2007, the French entrepreneur Alex Allard discovered this coveted land in the midst of São Paulo, and in 2011, Groupe Allard acquired the former Umberto Primo Hospital, also known by the name Hospital Matarazzo. Testimony to the architectural and cultural influence of the Italian community, this place — where half a million Paulistanos were born — is a monument built in the middle of 3 hectares of Atlantic Forest and situated 200 meters from Paulista Avenue, which is considered the main artery of the city.
The former Matarazzo hospital is one of the most famous landmarks of São Paulo and Allard started a grand restoration work to preserve the city's cultural heritage and bring new life to it at the same time. Cidade Matarazzo is the name of the project embracing the transformed complex of historic buildings in the heart of São Paulo with new different purposes, such as giving place to Rosewood São Paulo to be born.
As both an emblem of the city’s rich history and a beacon guiding its future, Cidade Matarazzo holds a central place in the hearts of many generations of Paulistanos.
Rosewood São Paulo
Phillipe Starck was invited to be the artistic director, architect, and interior designer of Rosewood São Paulo. For the execution of this work, the designer had the mission to use exclusively national materials and hire only Brazilian suppliers, designers, and artisans
For the new life of the restored Maternity as a hotel, dotted architects meticulously restored the building with the highest standards. White dolomitic marbles formed from limestone and magnesium — with high hardness and resistance — sourced from southern Brazil were employed. Brazilian artisans and designers created all the apartments, furniture, and interiors with national materials.
Featuring 160 guestrooms and suites along with private Rosewood The Suites available for purchase, the hotel’s luxurious accommodations are spread across the restored Matarazzo Maternity, which holds great symbolic significance and sentimental meaning to the city, and the vertical garden Mata Atlântica Tower projected by the Pritzker Award Winner, Jean Nouvel.
