Oscar Niemeyer, the godfather of modern architecture in Brazil, must have been dreaming of the ocean while he drew Edifício Copan’s plans. Forty storeys high and wide but thin at the sides, the undulating rhythm of this skyscraper’s horizontal lines turn it into an optical spectacle.

Planned in 1951 at the booming city center, it was an experiment in living: one of the first urban complexes to pack everything into one building—shops, restaurants, a church, a hotel and so on. Now the hip young urbanites have moved on, leaving this impressive relic behind in a neighborhood where many can’t even find a bed to sleep on.