Pulso Hotel by Studio Arthur Casas

_project: Pulso Hotel
_architecture: Studio Arthur Casas
_location: São Paulo, Brazil

There’s a rare clarity in the way architect Arthur Casas speaks about architecture - not as a detached discipline, but as an extension of living. For him, as an architect, designing isn’t just about creating form or function; it’s about inhabiting emotion, memory, and rhythm. “Designing for myself is very easy,” he says. “I’m my own best client because I know what I like, how I live, I have art, books, I have a story.” His architecture begins where most others end: not with the blueprint, but with life itself.

In an era where architecture often strives for spectacle or abstraction, Arthur’ approach is refreshingly intimate. His designs blur the line between domesticity and urbanity, between personal desire and collective use. The spaces he envisions aren’t merely to be looked at or passed through - they are to be lived. This perspective became especially vivid in a recent project where he wasn’t just the architect, but also the resident.

In São Paulo, the Hotel Pulso stands as a multifaceted urban organism - part hotel, part residence, part cultural node. It houses a boulangerie, a jazz club, a restaurant, and a mix of residential and hospitality units, all within a cohesive architectural language. But for Arthur, it’s not just a mixed-use project - it’s home. “I feel like I’m living in a motorhome,” he shares. “I’m loving this relationship with São Paulo, with the view, with the city.”

More than a building, Pulso is an embodiment of his philosophy. “It was one of the first projects to deal with this idea of urban kindness,” he says, referring to the seamless spatial organization and the comfort of moving through different functions in a single structure. The hotel’s lobby, with residential-scale furniture and abundant greenery, defies the sterile conventions of hospitality design. “People actually sit there, they talk. The greenery makes a huge difference,” Arthur notes.

His role extends beyond design - “I can’t even pass by the reception,” he laughs, “they all hide from me.” Not because he’s imposing, but because he cares. Because he lives it.

And perhaps that’s the most radical gesture in architecture today: not just to design a building, but to love it enough to never leave.

_article written by Daniela Moreira da Silva
_film by Architecture Hunter
_cover and image scroll by Fran Parente & Fernando Guerra

_drawings by Studio Arthur Casas

1. Ground Floor Plan

2. Second Floor Plan

3. Studio Floor Plan