The Edifício Copan is a 140-metre, 38-story residential building in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Construction began in 1957 and, following some interruptions, was completed in 1966. It is one of the largest buildings in Brazil and has the largest floor area of any residential building in the world.

The building was not named after the ancient Mayan city in Honduras; the name is an acronym for its original developer, Companhia Pan-Americana de Hotéis e Turismo (Panamerican Company for Hotels and Tourism). The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...

`s office in São Paulo, he himself being responsible for the famous sinuous facade design. In its final version, the building had 1,160 apartments and 5,000 residents. Due to the large number of residents, the São Paulo City Hall gave the building its own postal code (CEP: 01046-925). The current condominium has over 100 employees to serve residents and to conduct maintenance. The ground floor is home to 70 businesses and establishments including (since the 1990s) a church, a travel agency, a bookstore, and 4 restaurants. Its site has 10572.80 square meters.

The Copan Building has inspired writers, filmmakers, photographers, and other artists from all over the world. A short story collection entitled Arca sem Noé - Histórias do Edifício Copan, by Brazilian author Regina Rheda

Regina Rheda

Regina Rheda is a Brazilian author living in the United States. She is known for her prose fiction concerning urbanism, transnational migration, and animal rights. Before becoming a writer, she had worked with film, video and television...

, was published in Portuguese in 1994 and won the 1995 Jabuti prize in Brazil. Arca sem Noé is also published in English as Stories From the Copan Building, within the volume First World Third Class and Other Tales of the Global Mix (University of Texas Press).

External links

• http://www.correios.com.br/ Correios (postal service
  Mail
  Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
  
   of Brazil
  Brazil
  Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
  
  )]