Isay Weinfeld – Etcétera

Some of the most well-known buildings in São Paulo’s urban landscape and in major metropolises around the world bear his signature, even though few can precisely define his architectural style. This difficulty, far from being a problem, is part of the enigma and the strength of Isay Weinfeld—a creator whose work eludes easy labels and defies rigid classifications. But to reduce him solely to architecture would be a mistake. Over five decades of intense and coherent production, the São Paulo–based architect has built a trajectory that moves, with rare fluidity, through design, the visual arts, and cinema.

In Weinfeld’s work, what stands out is not technical virtuosity—though he clearly possesses it—but a sensitivity to rhythm, atmosphere, and movement, qualities that bring his work closer to cinema and music. The diversity of media in which he operates does not fragment his production; on the contrary, it reveals a continuous vision in which architecture, design, cinema, and visual arts intertwine as expressions of the same creative impulse.

This perspective is directly reflected in Et Cetera, which avoids the more conventional architectural exhibition format. There is no simple sequence of plans, sections, and models reproducing, at a reduced scale, already familiar buildings. Although present, these elements do not define the exhibition. Weinfeld sought freer ways to present his work, bringing visitors closer to the creative process rather than merely displaying finished results. What visitors will encounter is less a sum of parallel careers and more a single continuity developed across different media.

Around 180 items—including architectural models, furniture, films, jewelry, fashion pieces, texts by Isay himself, and various documents—occupy the two large rooms that make up the exhibition route, helping viewers immerse themselves in the universe, and the mind, of the honoree. The core of the exhibition traces a panorama beginning in 1973, when the architect opened his first studio, while also reaching back to formative works and decisive artistic references in the shaping of his creative path.