{"id":317566,"date":"2022-09-02T18:50:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T21:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/edificio-david-cury-e-a-revitalizacao-do-centro-de-sp\/"},"modified":"2022-09-05T17:41:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T20:41:27","slug":"david-cury-building-renovation-of-sao-paulo-city-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/david-cury-building-renovation-of-sao-paulo-city-center\/","title":{"rendered":"David Cury Building: Renovation of S\u00e3o Paulo city center"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 On the corner of Ipiranga avenue and Rep\u00fablica square, at 24 de Maio street, number 276, is the David C. Cury<\/strong> Building. The office building, finished in 1951, is named after its builder\u2019s father. Alberto Cury was a Syrian immigrant who came from Homs to S\u00e3o Paulo and had a fabrics store on 25 de Mar\u00e7o street. David Cury, or Daud Cury in Arabic, was a Syrian poet.<\/p>\n

In a post-pandemic scenario, David\u2019s great-grandchildren, who currently manage the property, saw the need to reinvent the space. This is how the project to renovate and attract creative economy<\/strong> businesses to the space began, part of the revitalization of this vital S\u00e3o Paulo city center region. \u201cTo transform the S\u00e3o Paulo center, we need people on the streets, living, working in the region,\u201d Ot\u00e1vio Cury, filmmaker and one of the three brothers of the Cury family who are running the project, told ANBA. The other two are the administrators Alexandre and Marcos Cury.<\/p>\n

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Old building ad<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The renovation seeks to recover original materials from the 1950s, such as colored tiles and wooden floors. The building already houses creative economy companies, such as Editora F\u00f3sforo publishing house, and social impact institutions, such as Peregum Black Reference Institute. They are looking for new tenants in these sectors, such as art galleries, architecture firms, publishing houses, and non-governmental organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many buildings in downtown S\u00e3o Paulo named after Arab immigrants, and this one is no different. It was built at the same time as Copan and considered an architectural gem<\/strong> in the heart of \u2018Cinel\u00e2ndia,\u2019 a region that at that time housed the city\u2019s movie theaters, some with over a thousand seats. Around 5,000 people went to the movies in those theaters every weekend,\u201d explained Ot\u00e1vio.<\/p>\n

The building was finished at a time of verticalization<\/strong> of S\u00e3o Paulo city. It housed the headquarters of large companies such as Brazil\u2019s Pan Air airlines and the Syrian Consulate to S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Over time, changes began in the center and throughout the city. \u201cThere was a change in the profile of the occupants of the center, a change of axis, Paulista [Avenue] appeared, and Faria Lima. Profiles transform over time, and [the David Cury Building] became another commercial building in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s center,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio.<\/p>\n

Alberto Cury\u2019s grandson said then the center began to have low demand and a lot of supply of units for rent, which is a problem faced until today and especially amid the pandemic. \u201cWith the pandemic, the scenario worsened; the building was virtually uninhabited. Just imagine fifteen floors and the building was empty. So, we thought about what to do since the building is still in our family. Seeing old photos and advertisements of the building, we decided to bring the architectural gem back. We know some people value this place and want to cherish the historical center of S\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio.<\/p>\n

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Open space on the first floor: 270 square meters<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About a year ago, the three brothers began weekly visits to the building with potential new tenants. \u201cThe building has a curve shape; the facade is made of glass and offers wide spaces. We wanted to make some changes to translate the moment we are living and our project. We turned a balcony on the 12th floor, which was not used, into a living space for the occupants; we also built a bike rack and are currently designing the building\u2019s accessibility in line with city\u2019s protocols and regulations,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio.<\/p>\n

They realized many interested in the building\u2019s units were people into creative economy and social impact. \u201cToday, we have a publishing house, an architecture firm, two social impact organizations, and some floors are artists\u2019 studios. They are people who appropriate the environment for their creative work,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio.<\/p>\n

The brothers didn\u2019t want this to be another generic building full of disconnected companies, but for the project to have a meaning revolving around the creative economy, arts, and social impact projects. \u201cWhy? Because the building is located on an axis that connects the Municipal Theater<\/strong> with Sesc 24 de Maio, we are neighbors to the [former] Cine Ipiranga, also close to the Piv\u00f4 Cultural Center, in Copan, that is, the building is in a strategic location, with a natural call to insert itself in this on foot axis of the center. That is the project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Old picture of the building<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The building also has spaces available for rent, with sizes ranging from 110 to 270 square meters. The first floor houses a 270-square-meter space, with a ceiling height of 4 meters. There, Ot\u00e1vio and his brothers envision a public space connected to the street. \u201cIt could be some sort of studio; we will try to bring art galleries to transform it into an exhibition space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want and are looking for people, companies, and institutions interested in participating in this project. Two renovations are underway, and the new tenants are recovering the building\u2019s original materials. Some floors lost the original tiles and coverings, and we saw a possibility to restore this as an archeology of the original materials. Grace periods and discounts are part of the effort,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio. He explained the building works within the reality of the city center\u2019s time frame during business hours. It is not open 24\/7, nor does it open on Sundays.<\/p>\n

He believes downtown S\u00e3o Paulo needs more addresses like this, and with this project, the David Cury Building has much to win. \u201c24 de Maio street is historical; it is like a responsibility to do our part to avoid losing it and contribute to this reinvention of Rep\u00fablica square. Squares are usually meeting places. We want to create this meeting place,\u201d said Ot\u00e1vio. According to him, this is a medium-term project; still in progress.<\/p>\n

Contact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instagram<\/a>
\nedificiodavidcury@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated by El\u00fasio Brasileiro<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Release<\/div>\n
Press release<\/div>\n
Press release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The office building was constructed in 1951 and is named after the father of a Syrian immigrant from Homs. Now, it is undergoing renovation and restoration of its original materials and renting spaces to people and companies in the creative economy and social impact fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2305,"featured_media":317538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,3066,101],"tags":[34709,34710,34711,34712,34719,34713,34718,34714,11569,34715,34716,34717],"class_list":{"0":"post-317566","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-society","9":"category-tourism","10":"tag-avenida-ipiranga-en","11":"tag-centro-de-sao-paulo-en","12":"tag-centro-historico-en","13":"tag-daud-cury-en","14":"tag-david-cury-building","15":"tag-edificio-david-cury-en","16":"tag-historic-center","17":"tag-otavio-cury-en-2","18":"tag-otavio-cury-en","19":"tag-praca-da-republica-en","20":"tag-rua-24-de-maio-en","21":"tag-sao-paulo-center"},"wps_subtitle":"The office building was constructed in 1951 and is named after the father of a Syrian immigrant from Homs. Now, it is undergoing renovation and restoration of its original materials and renting spaces to people and companies in the creative economy and social impact fields.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}