The fifth edition of ABERTO São Paulo unfolds now until 31 May 2026, marking a highly anticipated return to Brazil after its Paris debut. At the heart of this year’s project is Casa Bola, an icon of experimental design which is now open to the public for the first time and has been reimagined as a dynamic exhibition space.
A citywide exhibition concept
ABERTO continues its mission of breathing new life into historically significant residences through art, architecture, and design. This edition expands beyond a single site with the launch of ABERTO Rua, which introduces large-scale artistic interventions along Avenida Faria Lima.
Over the course of nearly three months, more than 60 works by over 50 Brazilian and international artists will be presented throughout Casa Bola and the surrounding urban landscape, creating a layered dialogue between private space and public environment.
Futuristic architecture of the Casa Bola
Designed and built by Eduardo Longo between 1974 and 1979, Casa Bola is one of Brazil’s most radical examples of futuristic architecture. Conceived as a habitable, spherical sculpture, the house challenges traditional ideas of domestic space with its continuous circulation, shifting levels and deeply sensory relationship between body and structure.
Suspended above an existing residence, the eight-metre-wide sphere was constructed by hand using ferrocement and recycled materials. Rejecting conventional architectural norms in favour of an immersive, organic environment, Longo’s vision now serves as the conceptual backbone of ABERTO São Paulo.
Art in dialogue with space
Curated by Filipe Assis, Cláudia Moreira Salles and Kiki Mazzucchelli, with an architectural section by Fernando Serapião, the exhibition brings together newly commissioned works created in direct response to the unique form of Casa Bola.
Inside the house, visitors encounter installations, sculptures and paintings that interact with its curved geometry and unconventional design. Artists including Erika Verzutti, Iole de Freitas and Tomás Saraceno explore materiality and spatial perception in their works, while Sandra Cinto and Luísa Matsushita respond to the home’s colour and light.
Elsewhere, the exhibition extends into the city through ABERTO Rua, where Avenida Faria Lima becomes an open-air platform for contemporary interventions, thereby reinforcing the urban dimension of the exhibition.
Casa Bola by EDUARDO LONGO
Photography by RUY TEIXEIRA
