Oscar Niemeyer's long lost São Paulo palace reimagined as luxury Oetker Collection hotel
by Kim Megson | 13 Mar 2017
The building was first constructed in the 1940s as Tangará Ranch as a gift for the fiancé of Brazilian businessman Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari / Oetker Collection
An abandoned Brazilian palace designed by iconic late architect Oscar Niemeyer is to finally see the light of day, with hotel group Oetker Collection opening the building as their first property in the Americas.
Palácio Tangará will open in São Paulo in June 2017.
The building was first constructed in the 1940s as Tangará Ranch, when wealthy Brazilian businessman Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari commissioned it as a gift to his fiance. Niemeyer designed it, along with Pier Luigi Nervi and landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx famous for his avant garde Copacabana beach promenade.
However, Baby’s marriage ended, and his original plans for the ranch were never completed. Instead, the property was abandoned for decades and eventually demolished in the 1990s.
Marx’s 26 acre garden was preserved and completed by the architect, and opened to the public as Burle Marx Park.
A previous attempt to open a hotel on the site fell apart over financing issues. Now the Oetker Collection have stepped in to re-create Baby’ original palace, albeit reimagined as a glamorous 141-room hotel.
B+H Architects, Bick Simonato and PAR Arquitetura are overseeing the restoration and renovation, while interior designers William Simonato, Luis Bick and Patricia Anastassiadis have been commissioned to complete the hotel’s “truly bespoke” guest rooms and public spaces. The trio has been inspired by 1940’s Brazilian glamour and elegance, including the rise of Brazilian abstract art and Bossa Nova music.
The rooms, including 59 suites, will look out onto the park – home to lush greenery, clear lagoons, checkerboard-patterned lawns, geometrically tiled walls, and a vast array of tropical Atlantic plants and exotic bird species.
The Palácio Tangará’s facilities will include a signature restaurant, Chef’s Table – run by Jean-Georges Vongerichten – and a bar, wine cellar, lobby and lounge bar, all with outdoor terraces.
There will also be a fitness centre and a Sisley Spa with a private garden and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Nine function rooms will feature, including a ballroom for up to 530 guests.
The Oetker Collection owns eight other design-led “Masterpiece Hotels,” including L’Apogée Courchevel in the French Alps and The Lanesborough in London.
Oscar Niemeyer Oetker Collection Brazil São Paulo Roberto Burle Marx design architecture07 Dec 2016
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An abandoned Brazilian palace designed by iconic late architect Oscar Niemeyer is to finally see the light of day, with hotel group Oetker Collection opening the building as their first property in the Americas. Palácio Tangará will open in São Paulo in June 2017. The building was first constructed in the 1940s as Tangará Ranch, when wealthy Brazilian businessman Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari commissioned it as a gift to his fiance.
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