Coletivo de Arquitetos Whips Up a Cool Ice Cream Parlor for São Paulo’s Mooi Mooi

What happens when Catalan chef Oscar Bosch asks São Paulo’s Coletivo de Arquitetos to help conceive an ice cream parlor in a former beauty salon? Founding partner Guile Amadeu hit upon a cool inspiration: the delicacy itself.

“The circular movements of the machine Bosch uses to create and produce his ice creams,” Amadeu explains, “can be seen in the rounded-edge counter that also invites clients to watch the preparation of their orders.” The material palette for the 900-square-foot Mooi Mooi shop, located in the upscale Itaim Bibi neighborhood, reinforces the connection between design and dessert. Many of the walls, and all of the flooring, are clad in granilite, the mixture of concrete and aggregate not unlike flavor options folded with nuts and candy. “Something we appreciated a lot in talking with Bosch was the wish to create some relationship to the street,” says Amadeu. “As a solution, we designed the building setback to be a small square, where people can enjoy the ice cream, but also call and wait for a taxi, for example—even if the store is closed.” It’s a public amenity that completes the project like a cherry on a sundae, a very sweet treat.