Romullo Baratto is an architect with a PhD from FAUUSP and Managing Editor of ArchDaily. He previously coordinated the editorial team of the 11th São Paulo Architecture Biennial and served as Managing Editor of ArchDaily Brasil, where he led the platform to win the FNA Award—the first time the honor was granted to a media outlet. He collaborated on the editing of the book "Concrete Jungle", published by gestalten, and has curated architecture exhibitions in Brazil, Chile, Denmark, and Italy, as well as delivered lectures and moderated debates in Spain, the United States, and Portugal. His doctoral thesis investigates the urban landscapes of São Paulo through cinema. His work spans academic research and editorial practice, communicating architecture through texts, interviews, lectures, curatorship, and photography. Follow him on Instagram @romullobf.
Brazil's greatest living architect, Paulo Mendes da Rocha does not appreciate architecture alone. Music is also part of his daily life, and this playlist—shared with us by his daughter, Joana Mendes da Rocha—features some of the musical preferences of our Golden Lion.
The graduate program Architecture, Education, and Society hosted philosophy professor Lorenzo Mammì to discuss the development of interpretations of works of art and architecture.
Lorenzo Mammì approaches the interpretation of architectural works from a perspective related to philosophy, music, and the visual arts, which are key areas of interest. The discussion addresses the varying readings of works, as well as the relationship between these analyses and the production process.
On January 13, 1943, New Yorkers—and, indeed, architects worldwide—were introduced to Brazilian architecture. Brazil builds : architecture new and old, 1652-1942 was an exhibition organized by MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) showcasing the architecture produced in Brazil, not only at that moment but since the mid-17th century.
The year 2018 marks the centennial of artist Athos Bulcão. In celebration of the life and work of one of Brazil's most influential 20th-century painters, sculptors, and muralists, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) has launched an updated version of the inventory of his work.
Titled Inventário da Obra de Athos Bulcão em Brasília (Inventory of the Work of Athos Bulcão in Brasília), the book builds upon an initial study conducted by the institute between 2008 and 2009 and published in 2010. That first edition documented 261 works, revealing the sensitivity, versatility, and richness of the artist's creative universe. Officially launched on July 30, the new edition spans over 200 pages, featuring a conceptually expanded and revised content alongside a playful and inventive graphic design.
The Venice Architecture Biennale has released the list of participants for this year's main exhibition, FREESPACE. Among the 71 selected architects, offices, and collectives, three Brazilians are featured on the list: Carla Juaçaba, GrupoSP and Paulo Mendes da Rocha, recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in the 2016 edition.
Curated by Irish duo Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, partners at Grafton Architects, this year's theme seeks to reveal "diversity, specificity, and continuity in architecture." According to Paolo Baratta, president of La Biennale di Venezia, FREESPACE aims to promote "desire" in architecture.
On September 12, Arq.Futuro and Insper will host the 2018 edition of the Arq.Futuro International Seminar - The City and the Water. As in previous editions, the event will present the Brazilian public with iconic success stories in the restoration of urban waterways and their surroundings. For this year's seminar, three cases were selected that stand out both for their urban quality and their explicit purpose of combating different forms of urban exclusion.
Designed by the firm Brasil Arquitetura, the Museum of Labor and the Worker is located in the city of São Bernardo do Campo. Once completed, it is set to house records of the "memory of the working world, from the arrival of the Portuguese to the present day." Although 5,500 square meters have already been built, construction has been halted and the site has been abandoned for about a year and a half.
In an op-ed published in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Brazilian Pritzker laureate Paulo Mendes da Rocha and former UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik suggest that halting the museum's construction—officially blamed on suspected project overpricing—is actually more closely linked to an aversion to the cultural narrative surrounding the project.
The São Paulo - Morumbi Station is part of the second implementation phase of the São Paulo Metro’s Line 4 – Yellow and is currently nearing completion. The project features two external entrances located at the intersection of Francisco Morato and Jorge João Saad avenues, as well as integration with the SPTRANS bus terminal.
The Federal District office of Iphan did not approve the project submitted by the Federal District Department of Roads (DER-DF) for the reconstruction of the section of the Eixão Sul that collapsed in February of this year, burying two cars and the tables of a restaurant.
The agency responsible for Brazil's artistic and cultural heritage blocked the proposal, claiming that the DER-DF/Novacap project "significantly alters the original architecture and compromises the architectural and urban integrity and, by extension, that of the Plataforma Rodoviária complex and complementary road system."
The Architecture, Education, and Society graduate program at Escola da Cidade invited Rodrigo Mendes de Souza to present research on the pedagogical program of the Bauhaus Vorkurs during the directorship of Walter Gropius.
Through the theories of Pure Visibility (Sichtbarkeit) and Objectivity (Sachlichkeit), Rodrigo Mendes de Souza addressed Walter Gropius's pedagogical program for the Bauhaus, drawing on various authors—such as K. Fiedler, A. Riegl, H. Wölfflin, and G. Semper—to better understand the school's pedagogical theory and practice.
The Municipal Government of São Bernardo do Campo has opened applications for a public selection process with ten vacancies for architects and urban planners. Organized by the Fundação VUNESP, the exam requires candidates to hold a degree in architecture and urban planning and an active professional registration with CAU/SP.
Invited by the organizers of UIA2020Rio, architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha will chair the Honorary Committee of the World Congress of the International Union of Architects, which will take place in two years in Rio de Janeiro under the theme "All worlds. Just one world. Architecture 21."
The Council of the International Union of Architects (UIA), meeting in Oaxaca, Mexico, unanimously approved on May 18 the nomination of the city of Rio de Janeiro as the UIA/UNESCO World Capital of Architecture for 2020. Securing this title is part of the program proposed by the City of Rio, with support from the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), for 2020, when the city will host the 27th World Congress of Architects.
In March of this year, Escola da Cidade, in partnership with Editora Perspectiva, hosted the launch of the book How to Study Public Life by Danish architects Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre, alongside a panel discussion with architects Sergio Kon, Fernanda Barbara, Nabil Bonduki, and journalist Leão Serva.
Starting today, Sesc São Paulo is hosting the Arquite-Tô project, which invites the public to imagine how the arts and architecture can articulate knowledge and more democratic ways of building, inhabiting, and enjoying space.
The project takes place at the Sesc Pinheiros unit, with a program that includes lectures, theatrical performances, workshops, film screenings, and other activities that engage with architecture and the city.
EstereoEnsaios São Paulo is a film-essay that revives the spirit of the "City Symphony" films of the silent era within the 21st-century digital stereographic context. The film is composed as a musical symphony intended to engage in a dialogue with the 1929 film São Paulo, Sinfonia da Metrópole.
Esquina, a platform dedicated to cities, is hosting the launch of the book Situating Jane Jacobs on August 7. The book is a collection of essays by various authors, edited by Renato Cymbalista—an architect, urbanist, and professor at FAU-USP—and published by Anna Blume.
The event will also feature a discussion on the significance of Jacobs beyond her seminal 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which remains one of the most important essays ever written on urban life.
The Valencian center, Espai Alfaro, has opened the exhibition "AlfaroSiza," featuring a dialogue between architect Álvaro Siza and sculptor Andreu Alfaro, co-curated by Fran Silvestre and António Choupina.