Bourgeois Houses and Modern Architectes: social production of São Paulo\'s architecture

Author(s)

Camila Gui Rosatti

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-09-16

Examining board members

Sergio Miceli Pessoa de Barros; Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda; Luiz Carlos Jackson; Ana Lucia Duarte Lanna; Silvana Barbosa Rubino

• Advisor: Sergio Miceli Pessoa de Barros

Abstract

This thesis analyzes a generational group of architects connected to the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (Architecture and Urbanism College of the University of São Paulo). The group, which established a powerful lineage and had unique opportunities to control their institutional breeding, was classified by its disseminators as Paulista School or Brutalist School. The designation emphasizes an aesthetic program recognized by its concise geometry and rugged materials. Formal radicality and social commitment composed the myth of origin of their collective project and language concerning it. Those elements were highlighted in the canonization of the architects of this group, who were celebrated nationally and internationally. The dissertation focuses on the trajectories of Lina Bo Bardi, Vilanova Artigas, and Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The research aims to identify the factors that contributed to the achievement of their careers. Specifically, it aims to understand the social conditions of this production in the web of relations between architects, clients, publishers and institutions. The dissertation demonstrates that these architects (dependent on private patronage) designed and furbished residences belonging to a part of the illustrated bourgeoisie in the city of São Paulo, a social group with sufficient capital and culture to bear the expenses of design boldness. These emerging fractions followed new cultural movements of the time and expressed their taste and political position through their lifestyles, of which architecture and design were an essential part. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/14020-0 - Bourgeois houses, modern architects: the social conditions of architectural production in São Paulo between 1950s and 1970s.
• Grantee: Camila Gui Rosatti
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate