FOR THE GRAM
The Best Instagram Spots in São Paulo
From lush house museums to the city's famed concrete wonders, a list to get you started in one of our favorite cities.
Once a month, we’re giving our readers a quick cheat sheet to some of the best spots for photos in destinations around the world. Sometimes they’ll be from our own writers and photographers, often we’ll highlight the work of others, but no matter what, you’ll now be able to spend less time trying to get that iconic shot, and more enjoying the place you’re visiting. (For last month’s iteration on Paris, click here. For Mexico City, click here.) The list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s certainly a great place to start.
The Fundação Maria Luisa e Oscar Americano's collection of antique colonial era furniture may not be the mid-century fantasy you were hoping to find inside, but the lush landscaping around the property and iconic house make for great photography.
While the status of visitors going up to the top of the Edificio Martinelli (which is totally different from what you see on the street) is up in the air. The rooftop and its mansions offer insane views of this endless city and the nearby Banespa Tower.
The Paróquia Nossa Senhora do Brasil is one of those places that just clicking on the location tag on the image above will leave you floored. The weddings that take place in here often utilize a mirror to reflect its famed starry ceiling.
Given how much her other works feature in this (or in the city in general) it's no surprise that the architect Lina bo Bardi's former home-turned-house-museum is on the list. Perched on columns, it's a playful space full of quirky rooms ripe for the design-focused photog.
To understand just how spectacular staying in one of Oscar Niemeyer's (and São Paulo's) most iconic buildings is, you can read more here, but let's just say the half century old apartments also make for some killer photos.
Most visitors flock to the São Paulo cathedral for that dramatic ornate church shot. In many ways, they'd be better off heading to the Mosteiro de São Bento with geometric pattern-heavy Romanesque interior.
While I usually try to avoid including drone photography on these lists (not all of us have access), I didn't bring my phone or camera the night I wandered the Minhocão, the highway that is transformed into a pedestrian-only walkway at night and all-day Sunday. And this photographer captures the eerie beauty of the space in the middle of this gigantic metropolis.
While the view from the top of the Edificio Martinelli is truly spectacular, the early 20th century skyscraper is also beautiful from the street.
In case you haven't realized yet, Lina Bo Bardi is a big deal. And perhaps her greatest work (along with MASP, the city's art museum) is the complex she designed for Sesc Pompeia, the culture and leisure center in the city.
The other giant of architecture in São Paulo is Paulo Mendes da Rocha. His conscientious redesign of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (the other major art museum in the city) that combined the historic with modern is stunning.