Ruy Ohtake: when home becomes a public square

The Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake reopens with a landmark show on architect Ruy Ohtake — six projects that reimagined domestic life in Brazil.

Home as a gathering place

Starting March 7, 2026, the Instituto Tomie Ohtake presents Ruy Ohtake – Percursos do habitar (Pathways of Dwelling), an exhibition that marks the new chapter of the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake, located in the Campo Belo neighborhood of São Paulo. Curated by Catalina Bergues and Sabrina Fontenele, the show brings together six residential projects by the architect, created between the 1960s and 2010s.

The driving concept is the casa-praça — the home as an expanded communal space. In Ohtake’s vision, shared living areas take center stage while private rooms are kept intentionally minimal. Natural light, alternating between focused and diffused, acts as the spatial conductor, weaving through interior gardens and transitional zones to blur the boundary between inside and out.

Six projects, five decades of thinking

The exhibition traces five single-family homes and one large-scale housing complex: the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake (1966), Residência Chiyo Hama (1967), Residência Nadir Zacarias (1970), Residência Domingos Brás (1989), Residência Zuleika Halpern (2004), and the Heliópolis Residential Complex (2008/2009), known locally as “Redondinhos.”

Scale models of every building, archival photographs alongside recent documentation, technical drawings, and sketches make up the exhibition route — allowing visitors to follow both the creative process and how these spaces have evolved over time.

The people who lived there

A series of video testimonials from residents adds a deeply human layer to the show. Their stories reveal how Ohtake’s houses became environments of sociability, memory, and belonging. At Heliópolis, community leaders also speak on camera, framing the act of dwelling as a collective, urban experience.

Heliópolis: architecture as social inclusion

The Heliópolis Residential Complex demonstrates how Ohtake’s principles scaled beyond the private home. He worked directly with community leaders to deliver public amenities including the CEU Heliópolis school and the “Redondinhos” housing units. For Ohtake, quality public space was not a luxury — it was a tool for social inclusion and urban transformation.

A landmark enters a new era

Designed by Ruy Ohtake and built in stages, the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake served for over four decades as the home, studio, and social hub of artist Tomie Ohtake. Recognized as a São Paulo heritage site and awarded by the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil in 1971, the building now officially joins the Instituto’s cultural programming as a dedicated space for art, architecture, and design.

Curatorial direction of the Casa-ateliê will be led by Sabrina Fontenele. Programming will include concerts, guided visits, workshops, and transdisciplinary research — cementing the space as a site of living memory and artistic invention.

Visitor Information

Ruy Ohtake – Percursos do habitar (Pathways of Dwelling)

Venue: Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake — Rua Antônio de Macedo Soares, 1800 – Campo Belo – São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Dates: March 7 – May 31, 2026

Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 10am – 5pm

Curators: Catalina Bergues and Sabrina Fontenele

Presented by: Instituto Tomie Ohtake

Admission: R$ 50.00

Half-price: students, seniors (60+), and teachers (proof required); Nubank cardholders (card required).

Free admission: Amigos Tomie members (membership card + photo ID); Nubank Ultravioleta cardholders; visitors with disabilities (plus one companion); children aged 10 and under (photo ID required); ICOM cardholders. Free tickets must be requested through the ticketing platform.

Photo: Divulgação