Copan during quarantine

The Copan building the largest residential building in Brazil, with 1160 apartments and over 5000 residents living in downtown São Paulo is a small city. Designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1950's, it was meant so people from all economical spectrums could live in center of South America's most populated city.

How does a building which hosts the population of a small town, live during the COVID-19 quarantine? This was the original question that brought João Pina into the building when the pandemic started in March 2020, moving for three weeks to start documenting the lives of the residents and building workers during this exceptional times.

Commissioned by National Geographic Magazine

Captions Residents of the Copan building protesting against president Jair Bolsonaro by hitting pans and yelling trough their windows in the back side of the copan building in Sao Paulo, the largest apartment building in Brazil projected by the architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1950's.

Captions The Copan building, the largest residential building in Latin America where more than 5000 people live during the quarantine for the Covid-19.

Captions Pablo Resente, 31 an architect and his girlfriend Livia Tatsuki, hitting a pan to protest against Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Mr. Resende and Ms. Tatsuki have been living in the Copan building for 5 years, and spent the last 11 days in self-isolaton due to the corona virus.

Captions A detail of Ilê Sartuzi's apartment in the Copan building while he projects a movie.

Captions Walerio Araujo, a fashion designer originally from Pernambuco State, who has been living for the last 25 years in the Copan Building.

Captions Ilê Sartuzi, 24 an artist working from his apartment. He has been living in the Copan building for the last 4 years. Since he started to quarantine because of corona virus, he has been projecting more often movies in his apartment at night.

Captions Tamara Salazar, 28, has been living in the Copan building for 4 years. Ms. Salazar is a dj, stylist commercial model and party organizer.

Captions A detail of the Copan building's emergency stairs.

Captions A woman walks her dog in front of the main entrance to the Copan building.

Captions Food distribution personel waiting for their packages to come out from a small market in the Copan building.

Captions Ana Milena Irisarri, 33 originally from Colombia and working as a personal assistant for a lawyer in Sao Paulo, has been living for the last 10 years in Brazil and moved to the Copan building two months ago. Under quarantine when not working, she often drinks cocktails while looking out the window.

Captions An man living in the streets near the Copan building receive a free warm meal twice a week from a group of residents who have been crowdfunding during the pandemic to support people living in the streets of downtown São Paulo.

Captions The Copan building seen with the skyline of São Paulo.

Captions Edyr Sabino, 63 a biomedical engineer and photographer and long-time resident of the Copan. lives with Daniel Sabino his 14 year old son, his 10 year old daugther Helena Sabino and his wife in what he claims to be the largest apartment in the copan building with 440 square meters.

Captions Pollyanna Mattos, 36 a digital marketing and adverstising specialist at her house in the Copan building where she has been living for 8 years.

Captions Carine Wallauer, 31 a photographer lives in the copan building for the last three years. She has been in self-quarantine since she returned from Europe 23 days ago due to the corona virus.

Captions Amanda Dias, 29 a visual artist in her apartment in the copan building where she has been living for the last 18 months. Ms Dias has been in self-isolation for the last 21 days due to the corona virus.

Captions Maria do carmo conceicao, 51 originally from Bahia, has been living in Sao Paulo for 28 years and always in the Copan Building. She works as a maid in a Hotel, but has been in forced vacation since the quarantine started in Sao Paulo.

Captions Thyago Nogueira, (in red t-shirt) 44 an editor and curator, and his partner Andres Sandoval 46 an illustrator in their apartment in the Copan Building where they have been living for the last 8 years.

Captions André Xavier, 29 is a professional chef, cooks in his home kitchen while livestreaming it to internet viewers.

Captions Angelica Cunha, 55 anos a resident of the Copan building for the last six years, is a caregiver to an eldearly woman, but since she had a flu, she has been home in quarantine for the last two weeks.

Captions The back side of the copan building in Sao Paulo, Designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1952, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of São Paulo, and built between 1952 and 1966, Edifício Copan is one of the most emblematic and iconic buildings of modern Brazilian architecture and of the city, as well as the largest building in Latin America. It was commissioned by the Pan-American Hotels and Tourism Company and modelled on the Rockefeller Center in New York. It is 115 metres tall and has 32 floors and a total of 1160 apartments of various sizes which house approximately 5000 tenants, as well as 70 commercial establishments.

Captions Views from the rooftop of the Copan building in Sao Paulo at sunset.

Captions Dandara Hahn, 30 is a designer and visual artist. packing her belongings to vacant her apartment. Because most of her income stopped with the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been forced to leave her apartment in the Copan builing.

Captions Alberi Carvalho, 38 is a painter working in the Copan building for the last 6 years. He started playing the violin 10 years ago in his church, and uses his lunch break to rehersal for 30-40 every day.

Captions Detail of the Copan building’s brise-soleil.

Captions Welcome mat at the entrances of one of the 1160 apartments in the Copan building.

JoÃ£o Pina - Photographer

JoÃ£o Pina is a freelance photographer born in Portugal in 1980. He began working as a professional photographer at age eighteen, and graduated from the International Center of Photographyâ€™s Photojournalism and Documentary Photography program in New York in 2005. Pinaâ€™s photographs have been published in D Magazine, Days Japan, El Pais, Expresso, GEO, La Vanguardia, New York Times, New Yorker, Newsweek, Stern, Time, and VisÃ£o, among others.

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