The 1936 project by Jacques Émile Paul Pilon gave rise to the headquarters building of the Mário de Andrade Library. Constructed between 1938 and 1942, the Art Deco–style building was designed to house the growing collection of São Paulo’s central library and to signal its role as a space for social and cultural gathering. To this end, spaces were designed for reading, storage, and preservation of the collection, as well as rooms for research and courses, in addition to an auditorium.
The original building, listed as a protected heritage site by CONDEPHAAT and CONPRESP, has undergone several interventions over the years. The most significant took place in 2007, under the responsibility of Piratininga Arquitetos Associados, contributing to the recovery and modernization of the complex. This intervention included accessibility improvements and the creation of a glazed circulation area, resulting from the juxtaposition of a new façade with the original one, between the access halls, forming a connecting corridor. The interventions sought to make explicit—through form, materials, and insertion strategy—a dialogue with the building’s historically significant context.