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The Hourglass
The Hourglass
São Paulo, Brazil
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Other Projects by Otto Design Group
The Hourglass
São Paulo, Brazil
Firm
STATUS
Concept
SIZE
100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft
BUDGET
Undisclosed
THE HOURGLASS: MARK LAWRENCE AND PHIL OTTO
The Hourglass re-imagines a historic office tower as a dynamic platform for cultural and creative life. While
honoring its legacy, the project radically transforms the building’s identity—supporting new ways of living,
working, and engaging with culture and the city.
At its core, The Hourglass is about transparency as transformation—literal, spatial, and symbolic. Sculptural
interventions and an advanced glass envelope reflect and reveal, while also generating energy and
transmitting information. Solar and smart glass technologies become architectural tools for sustainability
and communication, extending the building’s presence into a dialogue with its environment and community.
The building houses the headquarters of FIESP, SESI-SP, and SENAI-SP, reinforcing its role as a symbol
of São Paulo’s industrial and educational leadership. Architectural features such as the pilotis-supported
Programmatically, the design more than doubles usable space, adding 40 loft-style residences with expansive,
public plaza and the rooftop garden demonstrate a sensitive integration of form, function, and urban
adaptable interiors. The layout centers essential functions—kitchen, bathroom, and study—while freeing the
engagement. Adding to its architectural value is a mosaic at the Alameda Santos entrance, designed
perimeter for open-ended use. Floor-to-ceiling glazing connects each loft to the surrounding city, inviting
by renowned landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx in collaboration with Haruyoshi Ono. This element
experimentation in how we live and work.
seamlessly blends art and architecture, enhancing the building’s public interface and cultural resonance.
RADICAL RENEWAL/ Dezeen x Bentley Competition 2025
A rooftop terrace creates new shared experiences, featuring wading and lap pools, a community kitchen,
The Edifício da FIESP stands as a testament to architecture’s power to define place, embody progress, and
and gardens of native fruit and shade trees. These gardens will support on-site biodynamic food production
serve the public realm.
By Phil Otto and Mark Lawrence
while telling stories of place and ecology. Workspaces within the existing structure are re-imagined to
support creative enterprises, startups, and hybrid practices. These spaces form a live/work ecosystem —
connected vertically and programmatically to the cultural life at street level. The building acts as a base-
camp for creative response, where insight from public engagement directly informs innovation.
At street level, The Hourglass becomes a public forum for retail, gallery, and cultural expression. By encouraging
overlap between commerce and culture, this zone reflects a new urban vitality—one that celebrates the
intersection of art, design, and everyday life.
Throughout, The Hourglass embraces net-zero strategies—not only through renewable energy systems but
through adaptability, longevity, and layered programming. Smart infrastructure ensures that the building
evolves with its users and remains relevant in a rapidly changing world.
More than a building, The Hourglass is a content engine for culture and community — an architecture of
openness, innovation, and shared experience. It is both a continuation of the city’s story and a bold step
toward its ever evolving future.
The Hourglass re-imagines a historic office tower as a dynamic platform for cultural and creative life. While
honoring its legacy, the project radically transforms the building’s identity—supporting new ways of living,
working, and engaging with culture and the city.
At its core, The Hourglass is about transparency as transformation—literal, spatial, and symbolic. Sculptural
interventions and an advanced glass envelope reflect and reveal, while also generating energy and
transmitting information. Solar and smart glass technologies become architectural tools for sustainability
and communication, extending the building’s presence into a dialogue with its environment and community.
The building houses the headquarters of FIESP, SESI-SP, and SENAI-SP, reinforcing its role as a symbol
of São Paulo’s industrial and educational leadership. Architectural features such as the pilotis-supported
Programmatically, the design more than doubles usable space, adding 40 loft-style residences with expansive,
public plaza and the rooftop garden demonstrate a sensitive integration of form, function, and urban
adaptable interiors. The layout centers essential functions—kitchen, bathroom, and study—while freeing the
engagement. Adding to its architectural value is a mosaic at the Alameda Santos entrance, designed
perimeter for open-ended use. Floor-to-ceiling glazing connects each loft to the surrounding city, inviting
by renowned landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx in collaboration with Haruyoshi Ono. This element
experimentation in how we live and work.
seamlessly blends art and architecture, enhancing the building’s public interface and cultural resonance.
RADICAL RENEWAL/ Dezeen x Bentley Competition 2025
A rooftop terrace creates new shared experiences, featuring wading and lap pools, a community kitchen,
The Edifício da FIESP stands as a testament to architecture’s power to define place, embody progress, and
and gardens of native fruit and shade trees. These gardens will support on-site biodynamic food production
serve the public realm.
By Phil Otto and Mark Lawrence
while telling stories of place and ecology. Workspaces within the existing structure are re-imagined to
support creative enterprises, startups, and hybrid practices. These spaces form a live/work ecosystem —
connected vertically and programmatically to the cultural life at street level. The building acts as a base-
camp for creative response, where insight from public engagement directly informs innovation.
At street level, The Hourglass becomes a public forum for retail, gallery, and cultural expression. By encouraging
overlap between commerce and culture, this zone reflects a new urban vitality—one that celebrates the
intersection of art, design, and everyday life.
Throughout, The Hourglass embraces net-zero strategies—not only through renewable energy systems but
through adaptability, longevity, and layered programming. Smart infrastructure ensures that the building
evolves with its users and remains relevant in a rapidly changing world.
More than a building, The Hourglass is a content engine for culture and community — an architecture of
openness, innovation, and shared experience. It is both a continuation of the city’s story and a bold step
toward its ever evolving future.
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