The Casa (House) is an old building with a long and busy history. The building with a built area of 970 m2 on a plot of 1,250 m2 is divided into two parts. The first building was the site for the Anglo Brasileiro School Group, which operated between 1933 and 1955. The second building was constructed in 1955, after the school was closed, and São Marcos Hospital and Maternity started its activities becoming the Anglo Brasileiro Geriatric Hospital at the end of the 70s and closed its doors in 1995
A building that witnessed births and deaths and which is part of the neighborhood’s history and memory, the popular Vila Anglo Brasileira, home to immigrants in the west of São Paulo.
After the school-maternity-hospital cycle, the building was abandoned for 15 years. Almost a hundred years old, its social vocation was rescued, becoming a cultural space, thanks to a group of people who began to transform it: from abandonment to occupation, to artistic life, to daily activities.
Since the beginning of the process in 2009 there has been a constant concern to maintain the collective cultural identity that is stamped on the walls and details of the property. All renovations are thought to maintain the history of the place. With each peeled wall, a revealed world, a piece of the history of many people who passed through the school and the hospital. And there are many layers of walls, paintings, doors, windows and floors.
Everything that has been done to recover the space has happened thanks to the action of people interested in keeping it up and running. A detailed and careful work with a lot of sweat and much hands-on work.
All this tireless movement to maintain the building and its history goes against the cruel system of real estate speculation that the western region of São Paulo has suffered in the last decade. We believe that the loss of heritage represents the loss of history and identity, since the history of our neighborhood and the place where we live is unique and irreplaceable, and the destruction of its material representations means forgetting part of our cultural identity which is the same as forgetting who we are.
Observing the importance of preservation of a historic building like this, therefore, is to bring to light the meanings that go beyond the material and aesthetic value, conserving elements of the history of the place and its population.
Taking care of the maintenance of the space while proposing innumerable cultural events and actions still demands constant needs renovate demanding specialized labor which are often beyond our financial possibilities. Everything that has so far been done so that the building could be minimally recovered and inhabited, has happened thanks to the action of people interested in keeping it functioning. An ant job with a lot of sweat and a lot, a lot of hands-on work. Thanks to the collaboration of these people it is possible to keep the space active and in a constant process of recovery.
If you want to be part of this construction, come and meet us, be an associate, follow our schedule schedule or collaborate with our projects.