Minas Gerais, Brazil
Category: Residential Towers
Year: 2024
Architects: Pininfarina SpA
Lead Architect: Samuele Sordi
Design Team: Ligia Filgueiras, Andres Pineda, Hunter Swihart, Alice Tedesco, and Sam Mcheileh
Associate Architects: Autre Arquitetos
General Contractor: Terrazzas Construtora
Clients: Terrazzas Construtora and Sancruza Imóveis
Photographs Courtesy of the Architects
Savassi Design by Pininfarina redefines what a residential tower can be. Located in Belo Horizonte’s most storied and prestigious neighborhood, the project introduces a new typology for urban living. Imagined as a public-private gradient community hub that functions simultaneously as a private residence and a cultural incubator for the city around it.
Belo Horizonte is Brazil’s first planned modern city, a place with an inherent belief in design as a civic act. Savassi Design by Pininfarina honors that legacy.
Conceived in collaboration with Terrazzas Construtora, Sancruza Imóveis, and local firm Autre Arquitetos, the tower draws its design language from the geological and cultural identity of Minas Gerais, like regional woods, metals, textiles, and stone-inspired finishes inspired by the state’s world-renowned precious stones, including aquamarine, tourmaline, and diamond. These materials are sourced and processed regionally, embedding the building within its cultural landscape while reducing transport emissions.
Pininfarina led the architectural vision, bringing 95 years of Italian design excellence to a building conceived as a living ecosystem. The sculpted façade’s interlacing forms are not only decorative, but they generate distinct spatial conditions and views at every floor, creating a building that is experientially unique at each level. The lobby is conceived as a living art installation, biophilic in character and open in spirit and serves as a threshold between the city and the life within.
At ground level, the tower opens itself to the Savassi neighborhood through a flexible public plaza designed to host local artists, pop-up exhibitions, community markets, and cultural events. This is a deliberate design decision to return space and vitality to the city.
Moving upward, the gradient transitions through shared resident amenities including co-working areas, a community garden, shared cooking stations, outdoor terraces, a rooftop lounge, and workshop rooms, before arriving at private wellness retreats and micro-spaces such as bookable meditation cocoons and private work booths. Each zone is reservable and designed to serve both residents and the broader Savassi community.
The project directly addresses the realities of millennial and Gen Z urban living, which leans into a preference for experiences over square footage, for social connection over isolation, and for environments that reflect a conscious relationship with the world. Smaller private units offset by expansive, flexible shared commons reduce per-resident material use and spatial footprint without compromising quality of life. It is a model with clear implications for the future of residential development across Latin America.
Market response confirmed the concept’s resonance. Savassi Design by Pininfarina achieved the highest price per square meter ever recorded in Minas Gerais (R$42,000 per sqm) and sold out before its public launch.
The project is now widely recognized as a benchmark for design-led residential development in Brazil. It’s a building that earns its place in the city not simply by occupying it, but by enhancing it.
