Tag: lina-bo-bardi | ArchDaily

When Art Came First: Spatial Experiments That Shaped Architecture in Latin America

Daniela Andino — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Many of the spatial ideas we now associate with contemporary architecture, collective use, and bodily experience did not originate in buildings alone. In Latin America, these ideas were often explored first through art, at a moment when artists were actively questioning how space could be occupied, shared, and experienced beyond traditional forms.

Forum, Depot, Maze: Toward a Plural Ecology of Museums

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 07:30:00 +0000

This article is part of our new Opinion section, a format for argument-driven essays on critical questions shaping our field.

Democratizing Access to Culture: The Past, Present, and Future of Cultural Centers

Camilla Ghisleni — Sun, 26 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

The cultural center is an architectural typology that has fascinated architects and urban planners for decades. Whether due to its multifaceted program, its often emblematic scale, or its potential to transform the urban context in which it is inserted, it is a building type that carries strong symbolic and conceptual value. The wide circulation of international references—many designed by renowned architects—reinforces the aura of prestige associated with this program, frequently seen as a privileged ground for formal and conceptual experimentation. Not by chance, cultural center designs are among the most recurring themes in competitions, exhibitions, and academic studios.

Serious Play: The Subversive Designs of Lina Bo Bardi and Aldo van Eyck

Camilla Ghisleni — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Aldo van Eyck and Lina Bo Bardi were two subversive figures. Their visions of collectivity and playfulness—though applied to very different kinds of structures—shared a common ground: an idea of architecture that goes beyond design. For both, architecture was a living space, animated by appropriation, movement, and exchange. From Dutch playgrounds to thw São Paulo Museum of Art, their ideals intertwined, reinforcing the notion of an architecture where anyone could become a child again.

Between Fantasy and Reality: Aldo Rossi's Floating Teatro del Mundo for the First Venice Architecture Biennale

Camilla Ghisleni — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:30:00 +0000

The first edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale took place in 1980, immediately revealing its role as a platform for images and ideas that would become essential references in contemporary architectural theory and practice. This disruptive character was embodied from the very beginning by the strangely familiar floating structure designed by Aldo Rossi, titled Teatro del Mondo. At once temporary and archetypal, the project introduced central themes that would shape Italian architectural discourse in the years that followed. To this day, it continues to inspire reflections on timelessness, imagination, and the memory embedded in cities.

Concéntrico 2025: The Politics of Urban Presence

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Every June, the Spanish city of Logroño transforms into a space of architectural dialogue, opening its streets, plazas, riverbanks, and traffic islands to temporary structures that redefine how cities are inhabited. For ten editions, Concéntrico has worked not as a specialized fair or an architecture biennale, but as a portable museum — a curatorial gesture that brings a dispersed collection of contemporary architecture into public space. Set in a city suspended between arid plains and distant mountains, far from the circuits of capital cities and cultural institutions, Concéntrico presents itself as a temporary promise. It's a reminder that even cities that are often overlooked can host architecture that is current, diverse, and speculative. In this sense, the festival is less about celebration and more about activation.

Learning from Artists: New Perspectives on Public Space

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Public space has long been central to architectural thought, often framed in terms of planning, infrastructure, and regulation. From Haussmann's Paris to contemporary masterplans, architects have worked to define and formalise collective life through spatial tools. Yet, outside of these frameworks, artists have continuously offered alternative ways of understanding and inhabiting public space—ways that rely not on construction or permanence, but on presence, perception, and participation. Through actions, objects, or atmospheres, artists engage the city as a site of friction and imagination. These gestures challenge architectural conventions and invite artists to reconsider public space not as a solved form, but as a contingent and open process.

How to Save a Building from Demolition: Emerging Procedures to Uncover the Potential of Existing Structures

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 07 May 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The twentieth century marked a definitive shift in the realm of architecture, as the Modernist movement broke from traditional building styles and encouraged experimentation and innovation. With the help of new materials and technologies, these times represent a crucial moment in the history of architecture as both cities and building styles evolved at an unprecedented rate. The structures that stand testament to this day are, however, nearing the age of a hundred years old. Their stark design features are not always embraced by the public, while the functionalist principles often hinder the adaptability of their interior spaces. Given that they also often occupy central positions within the city, there is increasing pressure to demolish these structures and redevelop the area in its entirety.

Why Do Modernist Principles Still Underpin Design Education in Brazil? Five Professors Share Their Perspectives

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:30:00 +0000

The complex relationship between architectural education and modernist principles in Brazil raises important questions about contemporary architectural practice. To explore this topic, we invited five professors from different Brazilian universities to share their perspectives: Eduardo Lopes (Universidade do Vale do Itajaí), Eduardo Westphal (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina), Fábio Mosaner (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), Marta Bogéa (Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo), and Rodrigo Bastos (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina). Their insights highlight modernism's lasting influence on architectural education while raising key questions for the current architectural debate.

From Design Movements to Materials: Reflecting on Architectural Exhibitions in 2024

Jonathan Yeung — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 08:30:00 +0000

Reflecting on 2024, numerous architectural exhibitions have opened worldwide, addressing various themes, exhibition formats, and featured architects. Architectural design and architecture practice influence our daily lives in subtle and often unnoticed ways, where the end-users embrace built environments as they are. This reaction may arise from a combination of factors, such as a sense of powerlessness to enact significant change after a building is constructed or the experience of growing up in environments over which individuals had little or no agency in shaping. For these reasons, architectural exhibitions serve an essential purpose, offering society a chance to pause, reflect, and critically examine the myriad issues that surface during designing and building. These issues are often overlooked or need to be acknowledged, as practitioners may prioritize delivering projects within strict timelines over exploring more profound reflections.

Women Architects and their Material Strategies: Bo Bardi, Merrick & Hadid

Camila Prieto — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Although there is more of a balance between women and men in architecture today, the landscape was quite different a few decades ago. Pioneering women architects have been resistant in a profession dominated by men, and have faced skepticism in challenging contexts, such as construction sites itself. Zaha Hadid commented on the difficulty of inclusion in what she called the "boys club", listing the difficulties in coming to agreements or creating partnerships. Lina Bo Bardi, in turn, used her strong personality to overcome the sexism of her time. Even though these difficulties, women have always found a way to stand out and bring priceless contributions to the profession.

Architecture Classics: Modern Housing on the American Continent 1930-1960

Paula Pintos + Agustina Coulleri — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 07:30:00 +0000

Much of the production of modern architecture on the American continent was based on the model of European architects who, with their works, projected the fundamental premises and ideas for modern living. These pillars of architecture were transferred and consequently adapted to the American territory, introducing, at the same time, their own characteristics according to the territorial, socio-cultural and economic context.

Museum for Architectural Drawing Presents "Lina Bo Bardi - The Poetry of Concrete" in Berlin, Germany

Nour Fakharany — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 06:30:00 +0000

The Museum of Architectural Drawing presents “Lina Bo Bardi - The Poetry of Concrete,” an exhibition featuring 40 drawings by the esteemed architect Lina Bo Bardi, highlighting her architectural legacy. Showing together for the first time in Europe, these works include sketches and designs, photographs of the architect’s buildings, and illustrations. Taking place in Berlin, Germany, the exhibition opened on 31 May 2024 and will continue until 22 September 2024.

Lina's Red: Explore the Use of the Color as Prominent Element in Lina Bo Bardi's Works

Adele Belitardo — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Among the many marks left by architect Lina Bo Bardi in Brazilian architecture is the use of red as a highlight in her works. Whether bringing lightness and vividness to the hardness of São Paulo's concrete at Sesc Pompeia or warming the whiteness of Solar do Unhão in Bahia, red transcended mere visual and aesthetic status to become a distinctive characteristic of the Italo-Brazilian architect, weaving connections between many of her works.

The Poetry of Water: Symbolic Meanings in Built Space

Camilla Ghisleni — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 +0000

In a world of extravagant textures, colors, and flavors, who would have thought that a substance that has no color, no smell, and no taste is precisely the most essential for human existence? Antagonistic in itself, water carries an ambiguity of values and meanings that confer a high degree of complexity sustained by the versatile and soluble profile that distinguishes it in a complex simplicity. In this sense, water, as a source of life, has become an object of devotion and study over time. This has fostered a continuous effort focused on understanding, transporting, and controlling this element.

Lina Bo Bardi and Her Helicoidal Wooden Staircase: Tradition and Modernity

Eduardo Souza — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 07:30:00 +0000

The Unhão complex, constructed in Salvador, Brazil in the 17th century, consisted of a sugar mill with a big house, chapel, and slave quarters. At the time, Salvador was one of the largest and most important Brazilian cities, and its port was the site of a large portion of the Portuguese colony's sugar exports, an economy fueled primarily by slave labor. The ensemble drew the attention of Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi at her first visit in 1958, during which she spent some years working and teaching in the city. Following Bo Bardi's decisive contributions, the buildings were restored and became the new home of the Museum of Popular Art and the Popular University. But within the whole complex, the element that draws the most attention for its plasticity, functionality, and symbolism is the helical wooden staircase.

From Lina Bo Bardi to Renzo Piano: When Drawing Translates the Experience of Space

Victor Delaqua — Fri, 13 May 2022 05:00:00 +0000

If today technologies are emerging for different forms of representation and interaction with drawing, understanding how architects communicate through hand-drawn strokes can be essential to delve into the topic of architectural visualization. Through the simplicity of gestures, small texts or a collage of references, it is possible to translate ideas in an innovative way, unlike the ways that a render can present. For this reason, we highlight here the work of great names such as Lina Bo Bardi, Renzo Piano, Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Mikkel Frost, who, using different techniques, reveal different ways of representing a project.

UAE / Wetland Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Biennale

Christele Harrouk — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:24:00 +0000

The United Arab Emirates has won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Biennale, with its contribution entitled Wetland curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto. Selected by a jury that consists of Kazuyo Sejima (president-Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland), and Luca Molinari (Italy), the winning contribution at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale explores the local geography of the United Arab Emirates to find alternatives to cement, one of the key emitters of the world's carbon dioxide.