Spotlight on Brazil

South America's largest country has long been home to a rich Modernist heritage. But under its 20-year military dictatorship and a later economic boom, that legacy was often obscured in the public realm. Now, as Brazil faces a slowing economy and pockets of civic discontent, it is stepping onto the global stage with next month's World Cup and the Summer Olympics in 2016. RECORD looks at the contemporary scene for design, planning, and infrastructure—and the opportunities and challenges for both local and international architects.

ARTICLES

Learning to Samba

Foreign architecture firms navigate cultural barriers and contend with the long shadow of Brazil's Modern masters.

Josephine Minutillo

May 16, 2014

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Occupying nearly half of the South American landmass and containing more than 50 percent of the continent's population, Brazil seems at first glance to be a market ripe for foreign architects.

Lina Bo Bardi: Architect for the ages

A lifelong quest for an inherently Brazilian architecture produced a diverse career and a body of work that was ahead of its time.

Hattie Hartman

May 16, 2014

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With the centenary of her birth this year, Italian-born Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992) is finally receiving the overdue international recognition she deserves.

Pedro Rivera

A proposal for the headquarters of nonprofit organization Jongo Da Serrinha will transform a warehouse into an education and cultural center in the Morro da Serrinha favela.

Tom Hennigan

May 16, 2014

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Pedro Rivera is a graduate of the architecture program at the Federal University in his native Rio de Janeiro.

Spotlight on Brazil

With the World Cup just weeks away, there have been many exciting developments but, overall, the results of Brazil’s makeover have been mixed.

Tom Hennigan

May 16, 2014

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These are exciting times in Brazil. Next month, the country will host a party of global proportions when 12 of its cities stage soccer's World Cup.

Angelo Bucci

On creating citizenship

Tom Hennigan

May 16, 2014

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Angelo Bucci has run the SPBR office in S'o Paulo since 2003. He became one of the most prominent members of the young generation of architects to emerge following the end of Brazil's military dictatorship after he won, along with lvaro Puntoni and Jos Oswaldo Vilela's public competition to design the Brazil pavilion at the 1992 Seville Expo, one of the first major civic projects following the return of democracy. For political reasons, the pavilion was not built.

Arthur Casas

On trends in residential design

Tom Hennigan

May 16, 2014

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Arthur Casas is a graduate of the renowned architectural program at Mackenzie University in São Paulo and an heir to the city's Modernist traditions. While he is one of Brazil's most sought-after residential designers, his work also includes larger multi'family, commercial, and institutional projects.

Exercise in Design

Herzog & de Meuron shapes a welcome recreation center in a tight-knit favela community.

Anna Fixsen

May 16, 2014

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Tucked between lushly vegetated sand dunes and the Atlantic Ocean, the Mãe Luiza favela spills out from the fringes of Natal, a city of 800,000 people in northeastern Brazil.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU

This course highlights the benefits, applications, and design potential of expanded mesh and perforated metal in creating sustainable, inspiring architectural projects.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU

This webinar offers strategies to develop next-gen leaders, enhancing value, retention, and resilience for architecture firms.