Jardim America

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Established in 1917 Jardim América is perhaps the most famous garden city inspired example in Brazil and was designed by Barry Parker in a suburb of São Paulo.

The picturesque suburb plan featured boulevards and curving avenues lined with Jacaranda trees, with low density, detached family housing appealing to and affordable by upper middle class residents.
There were departures from the Letchworth model - no-one wanted to maintain communal gardens given the historical association between gardening and manual labour in a formerly slave owning society.

Jardim America influenced a range of other garden suburb designs including for Jardim Paulista, Jardim Europa and Alto da Lapa and other São Paulo neighbourhoods as well as in other Brazilian cities.

Settlement/development timeline   

  • 1911 City of Sao Paulo Improvements and Freehold Co Ltd founded.
  • 1913 Land acquired
  • 1916 Raymond Unwin completes initial layout plan
  • 1917-1919 Barry Parker refines the layout, designing many houses, re-landscaping a major park, and providing advice on the planned extension of São Paulo and other regional cities.
  • 1929 construction of Jardim America is completed
  • 1929 ban on any non-residential building within neighbourhood.
  • 1986 area listed by CONDEPHAAT to protect heritage.

Original master planner and any other critical master planning, design and architects: 

Initial layout plan designed by Raymond Unwin; further refined and landscaped by Barry Parker
Houses designed by Parker and various other domestic (Brazilian) and British architects.

Architectural Style/qualities:      

  • Arts and Crafts
  • Colonial style
  • Local vernacular

 Governance arrangements

A district within Jardim Paulista, a suburb of the municipality of Sao Paulo, which is the capital of the State of Sao Paulo which has a government & legislative assembly.

Other notable features that reflect Garden City Principles       

  • Well connected and biodiversity rich public parks, and  a mix of public and private networks of well managed, high-quality gardens, tree-lined streets and open spaces;

Find out more 

CIA.CITY
Rua Alcides Lourenço da Rocha, 167
3º andar – São Paulo / SP
(0055) 11 5508 2531
faleconosco@ciacity.com.br

http://ciacity.com.br/historia/