# Building a better São Paulo

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2018-09-22

book, brazil, building-better-cities, modern-architecture, modernism, monocle, monocle-guide, monocle-magazine, oscar-niemeyer, sao-paulo, the-monocle-guide-to-building-better-cities, uncategorized, video

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b8ac6e15b97e42409dd7365f4a50a1d9.png)

São Paulo, and Brazil more broadly, are near the top of my list of places that I want to visit. 

Starting in the 1930s, Brazil became an early adopter of modern architecture with projects like the [Ministry of Education and Health Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Capanema_Palace). It was one of the first countries outside of Europe to push modernism.

So I am overdue for a tour of [Oscar Niemeyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Niemeyer) and [Lucio Costa’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BAcio_Costa) work.

[Here is a short 7 minute video](https://monocle.com/film/design/sao-paulo-building-better-cities/) from Monocle about some of the ways in which São Paulo is reinventing its city center.

It is for the launch of their new book, [The Monocle Guide to Building Better Cities](https://monocle.com/shop/product/1362834/the-monocle-guide-to-building-better-cities/), and it got me excited about visiting the city (and country) sometime soon.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/building-a-better-sao-paulo)*