Casa das Retortas, Industrial heritage building in Brás District, São Paulo, Brazil.
Casa das Retortas is an industrial heritage building within a historic gas company complex in the Brás district. The structure features brick walls, French tiles, and metal framework organized into separate pavilions spanning a large footprint.
Constructed in 1889, the building was part of the São Paulo Gas Company complex that provided fuel for the city's public lighting infrastructure. It processed imported coal to supply gas for street lamps and city illumination systems.
The building now houses a Fashion and Gastronomy Museum that mirrors the commercial character of the Brás neighborhood. It reflects how this location connects to local trade traditions and the area's evolving food culture.
The site is open to visitors with newly designed pedestrian pathways and internal circulation routes making navigation straightforward. Improved infrastructure allows easy access across the different pavilions and exhibition areas within the complex.
The retorts that give the building its name were specialized heating vessels used to convert coal into gas during the city's early industrial period. This particular technology was central to how São Paulo first developed its modern urban infrastructure systems.
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