IdeasCity São Paulo was the second IDEAS CITY Global Conference. It was organized by the New Museum in partnership with Sesc and took place at Sesc Pompeia from October 25–27, 2013, simultaneously with the X São Paulo Architecture Biennial.

The Conference was held in Portuguese and English, with simultaneous translation. The theme of Untapped Capital invited examination of how under-utilized assets can be tapped to foster greater cohesion, and broadly-shared opportunity, in a way that is unique to Brazil and its distinct history and culture but also in a global context.

The event was held at Sesc Pompeia, a building desgiend in 1977 by Lina Bo Bardi. Since then, the space has become a center fur culture, sports, education, and leisure. The Conference was extremely well attended Paulo Mendes da Rocha filled the theater with nearly 800 visitors; and the panels and conversations attracted about 1000 visitors throughout the day; the workshops, which were closed to the public, counted about 60 participants. The audience was largely young—many students, but also architects, designers, educators, and other professionals attended the Conference.

All communications and marketing material was bilingual, in Portuguese and English, which was important in order to get the desired results and to connect to the Brazilian audience and press. We worked with a local press agent, which proved to be very beneficial.