Exhibition on Ruy Ohtake marks a new phase for the Tomie Ohtake house-studio

The Tomie Ohtake Institute presents, starting March 7, the exhibition Ruy Ohtake – Trajectories of dwelling, which inaugurates a new phase of the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake, the artist’s former residence in Campo Belo, São Paulo. Curated by Catalina Bergues and Sabrina Fontenele, the show brings together six residential projects by the architect carried out between the 1960s and the 2010s, exploring the house as a space for sociability, memory, and the construction of everyday life.

The exhibition presents five single-family residences designed by Ruy Ohtake: the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake (1966), the Chiyo Hama Residence (1967), the Nadir Zacarias Residence (1970), the Domingos Brás Residence (1989), and the Zuleika Halpern Residence (2004), in addition to the Heliópolis Residential Condominium (2008/2009), known as “Redondinhos”.

Residência Tomie Ohtake. (Cristiano Mascaro/CASACOR)

The curators highlight the reorganization of the hierarchies of dwelling proposed by the architect through the concept of casa-praça, which values shared living spaces and reduces the intimate projects to the essential dimension. In this approach, light plays a central role in spatial organization, articulating indoor gardens, setbacks, and domestic pathways, while blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior.

Conjunto Residencial de Heliópolis. (Cristiano Mascaro/CASACOR)

Scale models, historical and current photographs, technical drawings, and sketches allow visitors to follow the works’ design processes and the transformations of these spaces over time. The show also gathers videos with testimonials from residents, who recount everyday experiences and reveal how these architectures have become places of gathering, memory, and belonging.

Conjunto Residencial de Heliópolis. (Nelson Kon/CASACOR)

The Heliópolis Residential Condominium shows how these principles extend to large-scale housing production. In the project, Ruy Ohtake worked in partnership with community leaders on the implementation of public facilities, such as CEU Heliópolis and the “Redondinhos,” advocating for high-quality public spaces as an instrument of social inclusion.

Residência Tomie Ohtake. (Nelson Kon/CASACOR)

The show also marks the opening of the Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake as a cultural space integrated into the Tomie Ohtake Institute’s program. Designed by Ruy Ohtake and built in stages, the house was for more than four decades the home and workplace of the artist Tomie Ohtake. Recognized as a heritage site of the city of São Paulo and awarded by the Institute of Architects of Brazil in 1971, it will now host exhibitions and public activities dedicated to art, architecture, and design.

Visitor information – Ruy Ohtake – Trajectories of dwelling

• Location: Casa-ateliê Tomie Ohtake

• Rua Antônio de Macedo Soares, 1800 – Campo Belo – São Paulo – SP

• Dates: March 7 to May 31, 2026

• Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Tickets: R$ 50. Half-price: students, people aged 60 or over, and teachers (upon proof); Nubank customers (upon presentation of the card). Free admission: Amigos Tomie; Nubank Ultravioleta customers; people with disabilities (with the right to one companion); children up to 10 years old; ICOM card holders. Free and courtesy admissions must be requested on the ticketing platform.