Edifício Grande Avenida or Grande Avenida Building is a building located at 1754 Avenida Paulista

Avenida Paulista

Paulista Avenue is one of the most important avenues in São Paulo, Brazil...

 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...

. The building was founded in 1964. Characterized by one of the remarkable architectural styles in town, the building sustained two fires during its history. The first was minor and took place in 1969. The second fire in 1981 killed 17 people and led to an investigation which found the building layout to be responsible for the fire.

1981 Fire

The fire began in the mezzanine of the building on the afternoon of February 14, 1981. It occurred on a Carnival Saturday and the building was emptier than usual. 17 people died, most of them employed with Construtora Figueiredo Ferraz, a local civil engineering contractor, working overtime to keep up with a delayed project to be presented on the upcoming Thursday.