Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Parque Siqueira Campos
Av Paulista (opposite MASP) • Daily 6am-6pm • Free •
M
Trianon-Masp
Almost directly across Avenida Paulista from MASP is one of São Paulo's smallest but
most delightful parks, the
Parque Siqueira Campos
. Created in 1912 when building in
the area began, the park was planned by the French landscape artist Paul Villon and
based around local vegetation with some introduced trees and bushes; in 1968 it
underwent a thorough renovation, directed by the great designer Roberto Burle Marx.
The park now consists of 45,000 square metres of almost pure Atlantic forest with a
wealth of different trees, and there's a network of trails as well as shaded benches for
escaping the intense summer heat. Wardens patrol the park, but a degree of alertness
is still called for - don't doze off.
Jardins
Avenida Paulista marks the southwestern boundary of downtown São Paulo, and
beyond that are Jardim Paulista, Jardim America and Jardim Europa - the
Jardins
-
which were laid out in 1915 and styled after the British idea of the garden suburb.
These exclusive residential neighbourhoods have long since taken over from the city
centre as the site of most of São Paulo's
best restaurants
and
shopping streets
, and
many residents never stray from their luxurious ghettos - protected from Third World
realities by complex alarm systems, guards and fierce dogs.
Jardim Paulista
At the northeastern edge of Jardins, the neighbourhood of
Jardim Paulista
lies within
the wider district of Cerqueira César, which straddles both sides of Avenida Paulista.
Just a few blocks into Jardins from Avenida Paulista is a mixed bag of hotels, of
ces and
apartment buildings interspersed with shops, restaurants and bars geared towards the
city's upper middle class. Wander along Rua Oscar Freire and the intersecting
ruas
Haddock Lobo, Bela Cintra and da Consolação for some of the neighbourhood's most
exclusive boutiques and excellent restaurants.
8
Jardim America and Jardim Europa
Rua Augusta, lined with shops of all sorts, bisects Jardim Paulista and then turns into
Rua Colômbia and Avenida Europa in the adjoining
Jardim America
and then
Jardim
Europa
. Unfortunately, the winding tree-lined roads of these largely residential
neighbourhoods afford only occasional glimpses of the Victorian or Neoclassical
houses that are all but hidden behind their gardens' high walls.
Museu da Imagen e do Som
Av Europa 158 • Tues-Fri noon-10pm, Sat & Sun 11am-9pm • Free •
T
11 2117 4777,
W
www.mis.sp.gov.br •
M
Fradique Coutinho
In Jardim Europa, it's worth stopping off near the intersection of Avenida Europa
with Rua Groenândia to see what's on at the
Museu da Imagen e do Som
, which
draws on its vast film and photography archive to host often fascinating exhibitions
of contemporary and historic Brazilian photography and a varied international
film programme.
Museu da Casa Brasileira
Av Brigadeiro Faria Lima 2705 • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • R$4; Sun free •
T
11 3032 3727,
W
mcb.sp.gov.br •
M
Cidade Jardim
he
Museu da Casa Brasileira
, located near the junction of Rua Groenândia with
Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, boasts a varied collection of seventeenth- to
twentieth-century Brazilian furniture and decorative items. The building itself - an
imposing ochre-coloured Palladian villa built in the 1940s -
is typical of Jardim
Europa's mansions.
