The program required uninterrupted space, which could serve as a neutral backdrop for the chromatic variety of dimensions and of textures belonging to the products for sale – art, accessories, furniture and decorative objects at the Galeria Nacional (Nacional Gallery), in São Paulo.
The actual commercial character of the project demanded low costs and tight completion schedules. All the needs led architects, Paula Zemel and Eduardo Chalabi, to project the comprehensive, monochromatic, metal structure space. The 122 m² land area, between lots, only presented the reminiscent shell of an old traditional restaurant of the region, which was demolished. To the new construction was implanted with easements, which comply with the five meters, required by law, from the property line of the high neighboring walls.
The white, transparent, orthogonal structure is formed by rows of metallic porticos spanning from the sidewalk. On clearing the front easement, these porticos sustain robust trussed joists fixed to a glass-cased mezzanine box, which houses rest rooms, office space, a pantry and a storeroom, and projects 60 cm beyond the transparent panes of the facede, enhancing the store name. Further created on the box was a terrace slab for staging expositions.
The two metal-pillared rows of porticos are alongside the old side walls of the lot and now serve as the actual walls of the gallery. The side easements are revealed in the gap of the mezzanine, 30 cmon each side, which give way to zetnithal formations from where the light strikes on the irregular gables and on the refined wooden closure of the suspended volume.