Discover the Virgínia Ground floor, which has a bar, shows and a shop in an abandoned building

Passing in front of the Virginia Ground floor is strange. On one side are the modern lighting, music that ranges from electronics to samba and a counter serving draft beer. On the other hand, there is a certain atmosphere of improvisation, with holes in the walls, spray-painted glass and fences dividing rooms. It is not clear if there is another new bar in downtown São Paulo or if a group of people simply entered an abandoned address to have a little party.

But the decaying urban aesthetic is purposeful. Inside the glass façade that resembles an aquarium with graffiti and posters, are the Brass Brew bar and the Barra Funda Autoral store, Bafu, which promote gastronomic fair and musical performances that stir the nights in the region. About a month ago, Crio, a coffee shop located in the Jardins region, also started serving coffee there during the day.

The uninhabited space was already looking like this when the tenants arrived — and they decided not to tinker with the decor too much. Before, there used to be a dealership, which left the address empty, as a kind of blank canvas for graffiti. Called Virginia, the building still has ten floors and is located opposite the Nove de Julho Occupation, but the floors were practically empty, with only two apartments occupied until 2019.

Things started to change the following year, when the property, built in 1951, was acquired by Somauma. Dedicated to retrofitting – a trendy name for restoration and reuse – of underused buildings, the developer saw the store as a chance to make the space full again.

That’s how Virgínia Ground was born, which also houses the construction company’s office, on a mezzanine with mined and recycled furniture. Brass Brew is a brewery created at Casa das Caldeiras, in Barra Funda. And Bafu has a selection of designer items, which include fashion, ceramics and cosmetics.

The store is also responsible for the decoration, with artistic installations, and for part of the cultural program. The gastronomic fair Fubá —a joke with Bafu— occupies the agenda on weekends, while each month the walls of the building display works by an artist invited by the owner, Claudio Magalhães. From May 5th, the artist Claudio Arriagada exhibits some works there.

The other part of the agenda is under the tutelage of the brewery. The house is open from Tuesday to Sunday, but has free music from Wednesday to Sunday. There are jazz performances on Wednesday nights; rock and soul on Thursdays; MPB and samba on Saturdays; and a surprise on Sundays. Bafu is responsible for the name of Friday nights, when there is disco.

“When I came to see this wonderful wreckage, I thought ‘how cool, I want it”’, says Magalhães, who decided to install Barra Funda Autoral in Virgínia after visiting the place at the invitation of Somauma.

“There was still the ghost of the dealership,” he says. “I wanted to leave the graffiti, but also rescue the original architecture. Remove that horrible granite floor, those horrible crown moldings full of lamps.”

After ripping out partitions and walls, the original design of the space appeared, with a practically free plan. There were also holes in the structures. “There are people who are very uncomfortable with the holes, but there are people who think it’s incredible”, laughs Magalhães.

After the facade’s revitalization, Somauma says that the next step is to start work on the apartments, on the upper floors, in January of next year.

The initiative is similar to others in downtown São Paulo, which is witnessing a process of revitalization of old and degraded buildings. This is what Planta, for example, is doing, another developer working in the same segment and which has restored a building opposite the Minhocão, now home to the Gato Sem Rabo bookstore, the Divina Increnca pizzeria and the Cora restaurant.

“We are doing this to prove to us and to investors that the project is viable, with a financial return, but also with an appreciation of the city”, says Pedro Ichimaru, one of Somauma’s partners.