"Laje": Google Event Space

“Laje”: Google Event Space

The new “Event Space” at the São Paulo Google Office, in Brazil, has a program configured basically by a foyer, an auditorium and a multipurpose room, organized in a linear sequence within a lofty double-height space located on the top floor of the iconic Patio Malzoni building at Avenue Faria Lima. Once the space, in plan, is inevitably divided by the requirements of the program and back of house areas, the ceiling takes on a scenographic leading role, establishing spatial and conceptual continuity.

The song “Sampa” (by Caetano Veloso), a tribute the city of São Paulo, is used as input information for the parametric design of the ceiling. Data from its graph of frequencies and amplitudes on time is converted on the structure elements of the ceiling along its entire extension. Therefore, the music literally sculpts the inner space experienced by the visitors. The mirror surfaces, which separate the main spaces at the service areas, intercept the circulation flows, adding new ambiguous and illusory perceptions in relation to the continuity (or discontinuity) of the space. The “inside out” of the “inside out”, as the music plays.