Brazilian fun: Havaianas flagship store by Isay Weinfeld, São Paulo, Brazil

Havaianas Sandals, created in 1962, drew their inspiration from the “zori”, traditional Japanese slippers made of rice straw. A product of extremely low cost, for many years they were just rubber flip-flops, a long way from the fashion icon they are today.


To design a store at one of the world's most expensive addresses (Rua Oscar Freire, in São Paulo) to sell products that cost from € 2.30 to € 10.00 – and not more than that - was, at one time, the excitement and the joy of the work. This is Havaianas' first store in Brazil.


The greatest challenge for architect Isay Weinfeld and his team was to cast onto the architecture the climate the brand inspires: freshness, casualness, comfort, ease, well-being, Brazilianness. It seems though that he achieved more than this: the store was awarded 1st prize in the Shopping category at the World Architecture Festival Awards in Barcelona this year.

 
The shop has a very informal atmosphere and the outcome is nearly a square - a space fully opened onto the street, practically an extension of the sidewalk, without doors or window displays, with lush greenery and intense natural lighting, only covered by a metal grid alternating glass/wooden closures and openings for ventilation and irrigation.

The building develops in descending levels. At street level, just a small lounge area, a mezzanine overlooking the whole store; the store per se, one level below, occupies an ample clear span featuring double-height ceilings, marked by independent elements: a street market stand reminds of the origin of the sandals, initially sold at the city's free markets.

A container displays the " export" models, so far unseen in Brazil; a transparent cylinder features the so-called "new products" (bags, socks, towels, etc.); and a high-tech cube tells the story of Havaianas. Amidst all that, a lowered area for customization services and featuring displays for the children's product line. At the back of the store, on a half-raised level, there is a small garden for exclusive use by staff; the underground houses offices and storage areas.

Comments

[tony lawrence]

Love this project and a big fan of Isay Weinfeld. Love the minimal lines of their projects and creative design , always implementing a great program. Take a good notice on the use of indirect lighting and sculptural ceilings on this project. The playfulness of the forms , solid and void, light and shadow very typical on their work. Their work mostly caters to tropical architecture and design something that fit’s the Brazilian and generally Latin American settings. Excellent!!!

[fricks]

sao paUlo please...=p

[Stratos Bacalis]

@fricks - jsut corrected the header, thank you!

@tony lawrence - thank you for your kind words!