Letters to the Mayor: São Paulo invited more than 50 professionals from architectural design, urban planning, activism, art, curating, and other fields of spatial practice, to write a letter to the coming mayor expressing their ideas, opinions, and desires for the city. The letters were strategically exhibited during the electoral campaigns for the Municipality of São Paulo, happening amidst an increasingly tense socio-political moment in Brazil. By bringing a set of relevant voices to the public awareness and to the desks of the potential mayor, the project intensified the discussion about the city at a crucial time for its future.

The exhibition showcased a varied group of professionals including both consecrated and emerging names, whose contributions offered a nuanced profile of what the architectural discipline can comprise and the many ways in which it can contribute to the multifaceted constitution of our urban sphere and civic life. The discussion was enriched by the seminar Open Letters, a series of four round-tables which fostered exchanges between the general public and key-professionals developing significant work in the city. Together they explored the themes of Project, Strategy, Resistance, and 2054- The 5th Centenary. The project was concluded with the sending of the letters and the seminar’s documentation to the mayor’s office.

Letters to the Mayor: São Paulo integrates a worldwide project initiated by Storefront for Art and Architecture, which took place in New York, Athens, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, among others, showcasing the letters of their respective architects. São Paulo’s edition was held in collaboration with Pivô Art and Research, a non-profit cultural association housed in the iconic Copan, a building designed by Oscar Niemeyer and located at the heart of São Paulo’s downtown.