Walking around São Paulo, I came across three remarkable bookstores.  Two in the downtown area and one in a luxurious shopping mall in the business district. My short visit had become an unintended bookstore tour and I was delighted. I will dedicate a post for each one of them.

This one owned by Livraria Cultura is situated in a downtown shopping mall in the mid-section of Avenida Paulista (the equivalent of 6th Avenue in midtown New York, or any section of Nathan Road in Hong Kong). The company’s web page is here.

I wandered into the store via the mall entrance and was really surprised by how the space suddenly opened up.

There is a wide ramp that gently rises up to the first floor. Flat platforms served as seats on the sloping ramp. The interior was warm and inviting, playful and dramatic.

I think there are at least three floors each with a balcony above the big atrium space in the middle.

Love getting lost in this bookstore. One could see most departments of the bookstore when standing near the top of the atrium.

The place was packed with people browsing and socializing, and importantly buying books too.

The top floor has a music and video section.

What they lacked, which is always present in a US bookstore, is a cafe. Or did I miss it ?

The Arts department is in a separate unit in the mall and not connected to this big space. When I walked in, it was hosting a book signing party – but it must have just finished – I did not see the writer but there were waiters walking around with trays of wine and finger food. It was a Wednesday night and people were out and about enjoying a decent urban cultural life.

The squiggly handrails and criss-crossing barriers make a very strong visual statement throughout the store.

I suspect that this is their flagship store as it is mentioned first in their company web page.

For those who are interested in bookstores, I toured several university bookstores in Boston last year and blogged about them here and here.

Two more Brazilian bookstore posts to come.