Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1
Title
A Museum of the Portuguese Language at the Luz Station
Author(s)
Pedro Mendes da Rocha, Felipe de Souza Noto
Affiliation
Architect and Urban Planner, Master’s Student
FAUUSP, Architect and Urban Planner, PhD Professor, FAUUSP
DOI
https://doi.org/10.65686/DXVW5825
Keywords
Luz Station; Museum Architectural Design; Restoration and Adaptation Project
PP
642-651
How to Cite
Mendes da Rocha, Pedro, Felipe de Souza Noto. “A Museum of the Portuguese Language at the Luz Station.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 642–651. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.
Abstract
To operate within the building of the most remarkable train (and subway) station in the most populous metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere: to restore, reoccupy, and re-signify a listed heritage site, and there establish a museum of intangible heritage, in homage to the language spoken in the country. The hyperbolic description conveys the scope of the design challenge represented by the implementation of the Museum of the Portuguese Language in the Administrative Building of the Luz Station, emptied of its functions, in São Paulo. This article offers a critical account of the process of development and implementation of the architectural project, led by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and his team, with special attention to the particularities of an endeavor involving preservation, but above all, the programmatic and spatial updating of the building. An urban museum, an extension of the public circulation logics consolidated in that city center, discovered within a historic and unique volume, in an action that required constant and constructive negotiation with memory.
Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai
Publisher
STH Press, Firenze
ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263
Year
2026
Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.