ArchitectureSão Paulo · Now open
Cine Tutu, Isay Weinfeld's new street cinema in São Paulo's Vila Madalena
A film-loving architect turns a long-unfinished theatre into a 114-seat independent cinema with a café-bar and a cocktail-lounge foyer.
Isay Weinfeld is best known for his buildings, interiors and furniture, but film runs just as deep: he co-directed a feature in 1988 and teaches kinetic expression at FAAP in São Paulo. So a cinema was always likely. Cine Tutu, on Rua Girassol, is the first street cinema in Vila Madalena, housed in a building first conceived as a theatre that sat unfinished for years. Founder Paulo Velasco, who also runs Cinesala in neighbouring Pinheiros, has finally given it a cultural life.
Weinfeld treats a night out as a series of scenes. At street level is Barouche, a café-bar you can visit without a ticket, serving Brazilian speciality coffee, sandwiches, draught beer and cocktails, with popcorn from vintage countertop machines. Stainless steel meets warm native wood, and tropical planting fills the glass frontage. Downstairs, the waiting area feels like a lounge: framed classic posters, olive-green banquettes around a column and a spindly one-off chandelier.
The 114 seats in the screening room are covered in a playful floral print made with Brazilian textile house Entreposto, facing an 8.9m screen with 4K projection and Dolby 7.1 sound. The cinema is also a venue for the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival this month, so it's worth checking the programme before you go.
Our summary of a story from Wallpaper*, published 25 October 2026. Read the original
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From Wallpaper*