The project includes 12 thousand m² of slab built between the viaducts; proposal will be inspired by contemporary Japanese architecture
THE City Hall of Sao Paulo intends to create a public square on a slab between four viaducts and above the Radial East, with 12 thousand square meters. The proposal involves the construction of a shopping mall, exhibition plaza, innovation and culture center and other inspired structures architecture contemporary Japanese. Under development, the project was named open freedomin the district of the same name in the center of São Paulo.
According to management Ricardo Nunes (MDB), the idea is to create “the largest esplanade of oriental culture in the worldwith cultural, commercial, food and wine, leisure, tourism and services vocations”. merchants of the region and the Municipality that the district needs more open spaces to serve the thousands of tourists who travel the streets of the region on weekends.
The proposal, however, must meet resistance from a part of the population. In recent years, black movements have criticized the erasure of the identity of other people who lived in the neighborhood amid the advance of interventions that highlight the link with Japanese immigration, such as the change of name of the subway station to Japan-Liberdade, among others. .
The proposal does not yet have official dates for the inauguration and the start of construction or an estimated implementation value. There is a reference design and new technical contributions with feasibility studies and architecture will be selected by 15 January, through an Expression of Interest (PMI) Procedure. The works will be remunerated up to R$ 3 million.
Furthermore, the proposal intends to create a new postcard, with a contemporary architecture of Asian references, especially Japanese, with one of the new constructions in origami format, for example. The references mentioned are the award-winning Toyo Ito and Kengo Kuma, who participated in the Japan House project, on Avenida Paulista.
“It is an old dream of the region, to have a large area in the Liberdade region,” al said Stadium the municipal secretary of the Civil House, Fabricio Cobra. According to him, this is a request brought by the private sector to the city hall. “There is a lack of large spaces for socializing within Liberdade, which becomes the region with the greatest tourist potential in the city”.
When asked about the reason for the project to highlight oriental references amid criticisms of erasing black memory of Liberdade, Cobra cited the project of Memorial dos Aflitos, which will rise next to the chapel of the same name, which will deal with this theme.
“The esplanade does not detract from this feature. The city can coexist with a series of actions, cultural manifestations,” he said. You mentioned Bom Retiro as an example of a neighborhood with harmonious multicultural coexistence, although there are also growing discussion on the erasure of cultural memories in the face of the advance of the Korean presence.
Discover the proposal foreseen for each block of the esplanade
Due to the characteristics of the viaducts and the radial, the esplanade will be diagonal, with the highest point being 20 meters from the lowest. Ramps and stairs will have to follow the slope between the spans of the Guilherme de Almeida, Cidade de Osaka, Mie Ken and Shuhei Uetsuka viaducts, which will form three blocks (called “upper”, “middle” and “lower”.
The idea is to improve the view of the surrounding environment and allow the stairs to also be used as bleachers. The change also considers the inclusion of interventions in surrounding spaces, such as Praça Almeida Júnior, Praça da Liberdade and the future Memorial of the Afflicted.
With a focus on commercial use, the upper court will be between Avenida Liberdade and Rua Galvão Bueno. A 3,000-square-metre shopping mall, with rental space, and an elevated covered plaza, with origami-inspired architecture, are planned. The idea is that this stretch also hosts exhibitions, artistic interventions in general and various fairs.
The central courtyard will be dedicated to gastronomy, between Rua Galvão Bueno, which will have an enlarged sidewalk, and Rua da Glória. The concept for this trait is to include a space to contemplate the view of the radial, as an observation point, and in the irregularity, to implement gastronomic points, such as restaurants, teahouses, bars and the like, all focused on Asian cuisine .
Finally, the lower courtyard, between Rua da Glória and Rua Conselheiro Furtado, will be dedicated to large outdoor events and cultural activities. The presentations will focus on a new building, designed to become the main symbol of the esplanade, with references to contemporary oriental architecture.
The building must be a center of culture, technology and innovation, with an exhibition area, a coworking space and other spaces. The outdoor area of the tract will be able to hold up to 9,000 people, however, due to the slope, presentations can also be viewed from the upper levels.
Professor at USP’s Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning (FAU), Ana Barone says the type of construction proposed for the esplanade, to “expand the land”, has gained ground in very densely populated areas. However, it can generate negative impacts on the surrounding environment, as happened in the construction of the Minhocão, also in the central region.
Urban projects have transformed Liberdade into Japan’s “Chinatown”.
The esplanade proposal is part of a history of public and private actions that have reaffirmed the characterization of Liberdade as a Japanese neighborhood, attracting tourism to the region, especially after the boom in cartoons, anime and Asian pop culture in general.
Among these interventions, the main ones were the installation of Japanese lanterns, in the 70s, the placement of scenographic facades on the buildings around Praça Liberdade, around 2008, and the change of name of the subway station to Japan-Liberdade, in 2018.
USP professor Ana Barone explains that this reaffirmation of identity came from local traders, who were largely of Japanese descent at the time. “They had this idea (from lanterns) sell oriental products in the neighborhood”, he explains. “And it is a community that has economic capital that makes these projects possible”, he underlines. “With this ‘cover’ of oriental culture”.
Today other peoples of Asian origin, such as Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans, in addition to Bolivians, have a strong presence in the region, as evidenced by the historian Sênia Bastos, a professor at Anhembi Morumbi.
According to her, some of the traders, even if of other origins, keep the characteristics in line with what is understood as a Japanese space, while others bring together products and cuisine of other origins. “If we look at commerce, there’s more diversity in the neighborhood.”
+The best content in your email for free. Choose your favorite Terra newsletter. Click here!
Source: Terra

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.