Paraíso, São Paulo

Avenida Paulista starts from Praça Oswaldo Cruz, on the edge of the Paraíso district. At the near end of the avenue is the Casa das Rosas ("House of Roses"), with the State Art Gallery (Galeria Estadual de Arte), a 4-storey building with an area of 2845sq.m/3400sq.yds. It was the last building designed by Ramos de Azevedo (d. 1928), who was also responsible for the Municipal Theatre, although building began only seven years after his death. Glass panels, Belgian floor tiles and Portuguese marble were used in the interior decoration. The building gets its name from the French-style rose gardens planted in geometric patterns which surround it.The Art Gallery, opened in 1991, displays some 300 works - prints, pictures, sculpture and installations - ranging from work by academic artists such as Oscar Pereira da Silva by way of Di Cavalcanti and Portinari to such representatives of contemporary trends as Arcângelo Ianelli.

The São Paulo Museum of Art (Museu de Arte São Paulo, or MASP for short), opened in 1968, has the most representative collection of western art in the whole of Latin America, with works by such famous Impressionists and modern masters as Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, Debret, Picasso, Miró, Portinari and Di Cavalcanti, 73 works of bronze sculpture by Degas and, not least, a number of Renaissance pictures. Within the complex, which was designed by Lina Bo Bardi, there is also a huge open-air arena (area 2100sq.m/2500sq.yds) which is used for concerts and on Sundays accommodates an antiques market. On the other side of Avenida Paulista is the Trianon Park (or Parque Siqueira Campos), with old trees, playgrounds and aviaries.

Avenida PaulistaAvenida Paulista, originally laid out in 1891 with the villas of coffee barons and industrial magnates, is now a compact mass of concrete consisting of high-rise blocks whose roofs serve as helicopter landing-pads or are crowned by radio aerials. This business and financial center has also developed a lively cultural life. At its four Metro stations are works by Tomie Ohtake, Wesley Duke Lee and other contemporary artists.

Cultural CenterIn Rua Vergeiro is the large Centro Cultural São Paulo, which has a total area of 46,500sq.km/55,600sq.yds. It contains a public library, rooms for film, video and theatre shows, music rooms, conference rooms, exhibition areas and a collection of some 1800 pictures.Beyond the Paraíso district are two areas which play an important part in the life of São Paulo: Ibirapuera Park, the city's green lung, and Avenida Paulista, the "Centro Novíssimo", the heart of the present-day city.