When Stefany Guimarães and Amanda Nori were looking for an apartment in São Paulo, Brazil, they jumped at the chance to live in an icon: the Copan Building, originally designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer and completed in 1966. Not only is it large—337 feet tall, with 32 floors, 5,000 residents, and its own zip code—its distinct, curvilinear concrete form ensures it stands out amongst the other downtown skyscrapers. “The Copan has always been a landmark of the city,” Amanda says.

But the 1980s and 1990s were hard on the structure and occupancy waned in its 1160 units, which range in size from 1938 to 301 square feet. In 2014, it was covered in a transparent drape to protect pedestrians from loose exterior tiles. Still, in the last decade there’s been renewed interest in both the icon and its surrounding area, “which is becoming increasingly interesting and vibrant,” says Amanda.

After many years in São Paulo, Stefany and Amanda moved 90 minutes away to the country, but in 2024, they decided to purchase an apartment close to the flagship store for the brand of cat products they founded, called Cansei de ser Gato (CDSG). The name loosely translates to “I’m tired of being a cat,” and it all started with a Facebook post of their cat, Chico, dressed as a lion.

The couple were drawn to this 452-square-foot apartment in the Copan for its far-reaching views and petite, yet flexible, size. “We wanted a higher floor to have a nice view of the city, and we wanted a small apartment that still allowed us to make good use of the space,” says Stefany.

But first, they needed to reconfigure the layout. The closet separating the main rooms was so big that it made the home feel extra small, and a large bathroom further wasted space. They reached out to architects Larissa Ragaini and Chantal Ficarelli of the firm Arkitito Arquitetura for a remodel.

Before: Kitchen and Entry

After: Kitchen and Entry

The design team began by “taking out everything not needed,” says Ficarelli, starting with the too-large closet and a wall hemming in the kitchen. The demo removed the dropped ceiling to reveal the wooden substructure, which the team left exposed for texture, as well as a concrete column in the kitchen, which now pins the corner of a curving, kidney-shaped dining table.

$5,300 Construction Labor	$1,200 Stone Countertops	$5,600 Flooring and Wall Coverings
$950 Water Heater	$2,800 Metalwork	$5,600 Cabinetry
$1,000 Shower Enclosure and Mirror	$1,000 Bathroom Fixtures and Fittings	$950 Paint
Grand Total: $24,400

“The entry is smaller than the area at the windows,” says Ragaini. “We designed the rounded furniture in that organic way to open up the space.”

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

A rounded cabinet in the main room corresponds to the table’s curves, and conceals the laundry machine without occupying too much floor space. “We wanted to have a feeling of home, warmth, and practicality,” says Amanda. “It couldn’t be pretty and not very functional, you know? It had to be both.”

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

Working within a strict budget, the architects prioritized the new flooring, which the homeowners wanted to resemble traditional caquinho tiles. “They wanted to put in this flooring because of the memory attached to it,” Ficarelli says. Caquinho floors were popular in the 1940s and subsequent decades, when factories that were producing 20-by-20-centimeter ceramic floor tiles would give the broken pieces to workers at no cost to cover their home floors in mosaics.

Since production practices have since changed and become more efficient, there are not as many broken tiles to create the mosaics, says Ficarelli—so the floors became a big part of the budget. “We had to invest in this flooring that was quite expensive, because it’s new tiles that have been broken up,” she explains.

Before: The Studio

After: The Studio

The team reduced the size of the bathroom, slotted in a walk-in closet beside it for storage, and added glass-panel doors so as to bring light into both interior spaces. Sliding cane panels, a nod to 1960s Brazilian furniture design, separate the bedroom from the main room while still allowing for light and ventilation.

The red Formica finish on the cabinetry and the green metal trim for the custom doors create a vibrant color palette that reminds Amanda and Stefany of their country digs. “All of the elements talk to each other,” says Ragaini.

Before: Bedroom and Bathroom

After: Bedroom and Bathroom

The remodel wrapped up in May 2025, and the dining table has proven to be a favorite spot for work sessions, or hosting a group of friends for dinner. “You can seat as many people as you want because you don’t have edges,” says Ficarelli. “It’s easy to grab a chair and seat one more person.”

More from Arkitito:

In São Paulo, an Architect’s Geometric Family Home Fits Together Like a Puzzle

A São Paulo Home Welcomes Guests With an Invitingly Breezy Brutalism

They Call It the Joy House—and It Lives Up to Its Name

Project Credits:

Architect: Arkitito Arquitetura / @arkitito

Builder: João Carlos Pereira

Lighting and Interior Design: Arkitito

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Budget Breakdown: $24K and a Ton of Broken Tile Refresh a Flat in an Oscar Niemeyer Landmark