Architecture from synesthetic elements, light and shadow, textures, colors, and forms.

The pre-existing structure, a shelter for flexible and authentic interventions.

Ethereal, the experimental spaces provoke creation, art, and movement.

The virtuosity of the disruptive concept synthesizes the Teatro Vivo.

Located in the Vivo corporate building in São Paulo, the project was conceived from both material and immaterial elements, in order to create an innovative and authentic concept for the space’s users. The challenge was to create a conceptual theater that highlighted the pre-existing structures, leaving them exposed to bring the new through cladding, colors, textures, and lighting.

Upon entering the foyer, the circulation is divided between those who, at night, come to watch a performance and the employees with their daily work tasks. To fluidly position this distinction, we emphasized the lighting design, which performs as the immaterial force that marks the spatiality. The orthogonal and rigid grid of the ceiling also extends to the floor, revealing the LED lights placed in the joints of the floor tiles, which can emit neutral light or switch to the same purple as the brand, for special performance occasions.

The space accommodates the pre-established functions of the foyer and presents itself as a plural environment, adaptable to needs that may arise, given its scenographic concept, marked by uniqueness and flexibility.

Still in the foyer, the only built element is the central one, where the box office is located – around it, light plays to shape the environment. Although physical, the box office block also plays with materiality, as the mirrored panels that cover it, with diffuse clarity, deconstruct the boundaries of what is tangible.

Pronouncing into the foyer, the volume of the theater is clad with a customary velvet curtain – another well-known scenographic element – to confer a more classic reference.

The theater itself is divided into two realms: above, acoustic panels in a reinterpretation of anechoic chambers, historically used for various purposes, restore their function as sound insulators and explore their graphic and aesthetic potential in the performance hall. The authenticity of the composition reveals extensive research into acoustic techniques, bolstered by the design, evident in the graphic virtuosity of the performance halls – and just like them, the special lighting, the 272 seats, and the imported carpet all gain the Vivo purple hue. The lower part of the space is enveloped in wood to reflect the sound and provide a sense of comfort to the audience. In addition to expanding the space with new scene storage and more dressing rooms, the new design also includes investments in accessibility and technology, enabling the theater to host more than one different performance in a single week.

Our solutions for Teatro Vivo demonstrate how art and technique meet, and how the given architecture can transform from ephemeral and scenographic elements. Strategically, we strengthened the brand identity, designed its architectural voice, and re-established harmonious dialogues between the material and the immaterial.