Edifício Master — Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

About the building

Edifício Master stands on Rua Domingos Ferreira 125, one block back from Praia de Copacabana. It runs 12 floors with 23 apartments on each — 276 studio units in all, home to roughly 500 people, which makes it one of the most densely populated single addresses in the South Zone.

The studios are small, around 38 m², and trade as a high-turnover, entry-price asset in Copacabana, with steady demand from young professionals, students and short-term workers. It isn't a luxury building by size or finish. It earns its place here for one reason: cinema.

Address: Rua Domingos Ferreira 125, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

History

Built in 1957, the 12-floor, 23-per-floor format is a piece of mid-century Copacabana density planning, laid out so the studios face the seafront side of the block.

In 2002, director Eduardo Coutinho and his crew spent three weeks inside the building and interviewed 37 of its residents. The resulting documentary, 'Edifício Master,' premiered at the Festival de Gramado in August 2002 and won that festival's best-documentary prize, then took best documentary at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the APCA award in 2003. It remains one of the most-cited Brazilian documentaries of the 2000s and is the building's main cultural footprint.