Avenida Paulista and the MASP
Two and a half kilometres closed to cars on Sundays, and a museum hung from four piers.
Duration
2 hrs – 4 hrs
Best time
On Sunday
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Avenida Paulista was cut through in 1891 along a ridge, and the coffee barons built their mansions on it. They were demolished in the 1960s and 70s for bank headquarters: the avenue is now the country's financial centre, and it is closed to traffic every Sunday, given over to pedestrians and bikes.
The MASP, halfway along, is a block of concrete and glass hung from four red piers, with a seventy-four-metre clear span and an empty plaza beneath — Lina Bo Bardi designed it that way so as not to block the view promised to the neighbours. Inside, the paintings stand on glass easels, with no wall behind them.
Getting there
Three metro stations serve its length: Consolação, Trianon-MASP and Brigadeiro, on the green line.
Rules on site
The MASP closes on Mondays. The plaza beneath the museum holds a flea market on Sundays, and the avenue is then packed — which is the point, but worth knowing.
