In 1936, the Brazilian Press Academy launched a competition for the design of its new headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Herbert Moses, president of the Association, was, according to Cláudio Pereira (2002), in sync with international avant-garde trends, having even served as an interpreter for Frank Lloyd Wright during his lectures in Rio de Janeiro in 1931. It was Moses who handpicked the jury members, which consisted of ABI members, architects, and representatives from specialized organizations.
The project was sited on land granted by Mayor Pedro Ernesto in December 1935 (PEREIRA, 2002). Located at the corner of Rua México and Rua Araújo Porto Alegre, the lot sat within one of the city blocks created by the leveling of Morro do Castelo, placing it squarely within the Agache Plan. In this area, despite the plan's revocation by Decree 4,923 on June 30, 1934, alignment projects were still approved in accordance with the guidelines established by the French professor in 1930 (REZENDE, 2005).
The proposal by Jorge Machado Moreira and Ernani Vasconcelos, published in the *Revista Municipal de Engenharia* (Figure 1), features a facade solution entirely composed of brise-soleils, since, according to the authors, the orientation of the site was highly unfavorable for environmental comfort (MOREIRA; VASCONCELOS, 1936). Consequently, inspired by the elements “that Le Corbusier studied and designed [...] in Algeria” (Ibid., p. 261), a grid-like mesh was created across the entire extent of the facades' vertical planes. Vertical circulation was shifted to the edge of the building and plastically highlighted, unequivocally zoning the program. The structure was conceived independently of the enclosures, “within the principles of modern construction technology” (Ibid., p. 263). Of particular note is a passage where the architects state that “since this is a building that must form a whole with the other constructions in the block, solutions that are in disharmony with the ensemble are not recommended” (Ibid., p. 261), demonstrating their concern for the block's overall cohesion.
