A Richard Meier-designed office building has just been completed in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, making it the first South American project for the New York-based firm. Located in the affluent Leblon neighborhood, the boxy, seven-story, sustainable structure features many of Meier’s signature details, including white concrete, generous glazing, an open plan, metal railings, and clean, sharp geometries.
Created as the new headquarters for Brazilian investment firm VINCI Partners, the building boasts private interior courtyards, vertical gardens, and a series of terraces that create, according to the press notes, "a direct connection with the urban artery of Bartolomeu Mitre Avenue" on which it is located. Recessed from the street, the structure is shielded by white horizontal louvers on the western facade that offer additional privacy and shade from the sun.
Here’s what Richard Meier had to say about the project:
The completion of the Leblon Offices is very special for our Firm as it represents our first completed building in South America and in Latin America. Brazil’s architecture is very distinct from Latin America as a whole and diverse in itself, and we are extremely honored to complete a project within a country that has such a rich architectural heritage.
Looking at the context has always been something that is very important in our work. We look at how that project not only fulfills the functional requirements of what it is, but how it responds to where it is and how it enlivens the community. Brazil’s architecture celebrates natural light, openness and nature’s intimate relationship with the built environment, and these are elements that we have integrated in the design of the new Leblon Offices.
Take a look around.
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