24.7.2025
Soul Garden
Inspired by the duality of Yin Yang, the space offers an urban refuge where body and soul are balanced as an invitation for visitors to slow down.
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Helena Elias harmonizes opposing elements in Soul Garden, a sensory space at CASACOR São Paulo 2025
São Paulo, 2025 – Landscape designer Helena Elias, head of Jardim Paulistano Paisagismo, returns to CASACOR São Paulo with Soul Garden, a sensory immersion space marked by the balance between opposites. The project occupies an area of 154 m² in Água Branca Park – one of São Paulo’s main parks – and dialogues with the event’s theme this year, “Sowing Dreams”, by proposing an intimate garden that stimulates introspection and awakens the senses.
The starting point for the project lies in the symbolism of Yin Yang, translated into the juxtaposition of textures, temperatures and atmospheres. A winding wooden deck organizes circulation and acts as a central element, connecting moments of light and shade, heat and cold. A sauna, ice bath and fire pit make up this itinerary of sensations, where physical well-being is intertwined with emotional comfort
The materials selected contrast between the precision of the iron structural elements and the warm organicity of the wood, stone and moss. Everything was designed to enhance the pre-existing vegetation on site, without any direct interference with the soil – in a 15 cm perimeter around the park’s native trees, Helena kept all the vegetation chosen for the exhibition in vases, ensuring the integrity of the local ecosystem.
“What we found when we arrived here was a beautiful forest. What we’ve brought back is the feeling of being in a tropical ‘subforest'”, explains the landscape designer. The professional personally traveled to a plant nursery in Ilhéus, Bahia, where she brought around 500 seedlings, many of them native and little known on the market, to compose the Soul Garden. The meticulous selection of species reinforces the proposal to create an urban oasis, transforming an arid environment into an exuberant and welcoming space.
The space invites visitors to connect with the atmosphere of Água Branca Park and CASACOR. It is a break on every day life and an invitation to dream, contemplate and relax.
“We want people to slow down as they walk through our space. Have drink, take a sauna or meditate. Our garden was made to renew souls”, defines Helena Elias.