The new Strategic Master Plan for the city of São Paulo has been causing a wave of revisions of ongoing projects.
The concern to comply with the precepts of the new legislation without distorting the original concept already approved by the client has become a constant at AO , in a multidisciplinary and investigative action that involves dozens of professionals.
Projects under review
There are currently 13 projects under review, some of them for the same client, and they are now beginning to observe the approved changes and their impact on the architecture. Among them, the change of the project's classification zone, one of the most complex transitions to be made.
There are also cases of increasing the solidarity quota, with a proportional increase in the computable built area, and observing the possibility of breaking the share, with a reduction in the number of minimum units per plot of land.
Other changes include the provision of a minimum of 20% residential use for mixed-use configurations and the benefit of 10% additional area for developments without parking spaces, in addition to the change in the counting of non-computable spaces per private area.
Meeting between experts
To share the experience in carrying out reviews and detail the points that deserve greater attention, AO promoted a meeting between specialists in internal executive projects in an open conversation with our team.
The law's greatest challenge is dealing with a city that is self-constructing. And there are also complementary instruments – Zoning, Building Code, City Statute and various notices published by the government – that end up impacting the previous definitions.
As an example, the chat highlighted a resolution that, without approval from the City Council or another body, since resolutions do not depend on this type of procedure, prohibited the use of terraces as service areas. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention to the various legislative layers that make up the urban fabric in development.
For Sávio Jobim , Director of Architecture at AO, the issues that arise in São Paulo are just a sample of the existing challenge, considering that the office operates in dozens of municipalities, many of which are in the process of reviewing their urban legislation.
The Master Plan is not static and will continue to evolve, as will complementary legislation. Hence the growing importance of all professionals who deal with the city to keep up to date, recognizing instability and facing the challenges inherent in a constantly changing context.
