Name: Giulia Ravanini
Track: Architecture
Studio: Explore Lab
Year: MSc 3/4 / 2025
Type: Graduation Project
Tutor: Eireen Scheurs, Janina Gosseye, Matthijs Klooster
Description:
For three decades, the Santapaula Yacht Club complex has stood abandoned on the monumental edges of the Guarapiranga reservoir, with neither passages nor permanence manifesting there. When it opened in the 1960s, it was the largest establishment of its kind in Latin America, benefiting from an intervention project designed by the renowned architect Vilanova Artigas. Over time, the structure fell into disuse, but its architectural significance and strategic location remained intact. In 2024, the city of São Paulo unveiled new urban development plans, including a system of boat stops to connect the reservoir’s banks—thus introducing new passages—as well as an integrated network of parks and recreational spaces—redefining the spaces of permanence. Within this context, current projects aim to envision how to reintegrate the site into the socio-economic dynamics of the Guarapiranga edges, bringing in full life and activity to the areas already present along the reservoir.