PARQUE DO IBIRAPUERA

Ibiripuera Park is the green lung of the Paulist capital, with an area of 1,584 km² in the popular Vila Mariana neighborhood. Inaugurated on August 21, 1954, during the commemoration of the 4th centenary of São Paulo, the park was designed by the architects Oscar Niemeyer, Ulhôa Cavalcanti and the landscape architect Burle Marx. It receives more than 200,000 visitors per week. You can walk with your family, play sports, observe the flora and fauna of this magnificent place and you can hardly believe that you are in the heart of one of the most important megacities on the planet. There are lakes, restaurants, monuments, museums and even a replica of the Katsura-Rikyu Imperial Palace in Kyoto. On Sundays, there are free ao vivo shows by local artists. It is also a major center of Sampa's cultural life. Some buildings in the park dedicated to culture are designed by Oscar Niemeyer. When you see the white dome of the OCA (or Lucas Nogueira Garces pavilion, which offers temporary exhibitions), you recognize the signature of the great architect, not of the Universe, but of Brasilia, and some people wonder if he wasn't already trying his hand at the sketches of President Juscelino Kubitschek's master plan. The MAC and the MAM (Museum of Contemporary Art and Museum of Modern Art) are two flagship museums that host the São Paulo Biennial, which is as renowned as the Venice Biennial. The Afro Brasil Museum, the Auditorio and the Planetario complete an offer that reflects Sampa's gigantism.