Bruna Canepa

Bruna Canepa (São Paulo, 1988) is an architect who graduated from Escola da Cidade (2013) and is currently developing her master's research "An Archaeology of Drawing" in the History and Fundamentals of Architecture section at FAUUSP. She is co-founder of the studio Miniatura with Ciro Miguel (2010 - 2014) and collaborates with practices based in São Paulo, especially in expography projects. She has been researching and working with drawing since 2007 and has participated in exhibitions in and outside Brazil since then.

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Retracing to Know: Architecture Beyond Visuality

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Some lessons, however simple, can resonate lastingly within our personal practice. This is the case with a specific memory from my undergraduate years in the Architecture and Urbanism program at Escola da Cidade, where, during a second-year technical drawing class, the professors suggested we retrace the floor plans of the Butantã House, designed by architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. My recollection is that, immediately, some of the students found the activity uninspired or even irrelevant—which is understandable—while for others it was certainly enjoyable and fruitful, even if they might not recall this specific episode more than a decade later, as is the case here. The value of being exposed to different activities within a course—from the most to the least conventional, from the simplest to the most elaborate—is that each individual will utilize different tools and knowledge in unique ways. Hence the importance of a wide range of experiences, even within the seemingly rigid instruction of technical drawing. What is trivial for some can be instrumental for others, whether momentarily or over the long term.