Ipanema · Rio de Janeiro

Edifício JK

The only residential building on the Vieira Souto beachfront designed by Oscar Niemeyer.

Landmark building

About the building

Edifício JK stands at Avenida Vieira Souto 206, on the Ipanema beachfront. It is the only residential building on this stretch of sand designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and it reads as one of his quieter works: a glass prism of roughly 20 by 14 meters lifted on pilotis with three central supports, with the curves saved for a sinuous opening and a sculptural internal staircase that links the two top floors.

Apartments here are very large — listings describe full-floor units of around 600 m² with four to five bedrooms — and the biggest residence spans the two upper floors plus the penthouse level. With so few units and a direct view over Posto 9, it trades as one of the most coveted residential addresses in Rio.

Address: Av. Vieira Souto 206, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro

History

The building went up in 1962, commissioned by Sebastião Paes de Almeida, a Bank of Brazil president and finance minister under Juscelino Kubitschek — which explains the name. Zoning at the time held Ipanema's beachfront to low-rise buildings on pilotis, so Niemeyer worked horizontally rather than vertically, suspending the glass volume above an open ground floor.

Its best-documented residents were Caetano Veloso and Paula Lavigne, who lived in the building's duplex penthouse until the mid-2000s.

Notable residents

Source: ILISP

What's around

Ipanema Beach (Posto 9) Across the street
Metrô General Osório 8 min walk
Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim 3 min walk
Santos Dumont Airport 25 min by car

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On the map

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