Lina by herself: the construction of a woman's self-image in architecture

• Grant number: 19/24646-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: January 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Amália Cristovão dos Santos
• Grantee: Luiza de Oliveira Castro de Souza
• Host Institution: Escola da Cidade. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project is dedicated to the study of Lina Bo Bardi's figure and trajectory through the processes of building her self-image and self-representation. For this purpose, we propose to analyze posed iconographies and written works (mainly published in magazines between the 1940s and 1960s) with emphasis on textual materials that somehow address the gender issue and Lina Bo Bardi's position as a woman within the field of architecture. The aim is to investigate her strategies and mechanisms of insertion in a highly masculinized field and its tensioning, discussed from her individual trajectory and her different forms of production, thus enabling further elucidation on the contours of the architect's professional field. From the methodological references of Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens, we also seek to place the architect within a moment of consolidation of modern architecture in Brazil and the narrative intended to be affirmed through it, recognizing and stitching together the fundamental role of the agents, the social space, fields and context in Lina Bo Bardi's construction as a professional and as an individual.