25th – 27th March 2014
Francesco Dal Co recounts in two meetings at the Triennale di Milano the great Brazilian architects Oscar Niemeyer and Paulo Mendes da Rocha introducing the exhibition “Paulo Mendes da Rocha”, curated by Daniele Pisani, from May 6 to August 31, 2014.
March 25 – Oscar Niemeyer 5.00 pm Salone d’Onore
Francesco Dal Co presented at the Triennale di Milano the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who built his futuristic structures all over the world, continuously violating the laws of statics and experimenting new materials, particularly, the reinforced concrete which was used for the construction of Brasilia. This city, which made him famous, was born in just 18 months , an entire urban fabric designed in a very short time. “The choice to build this town was driven by the need to make Brazil a symbol of rebirth” said professor Dal Co. “Brasilia tells the story of a country through the great public constructions realized by architects and engineers who transformed the territory”.
March 27 – Paulo Mendes da Rocha 5.00 pm Salone d’Onore
Born in 1928 in Vitória, Paulo Mendes da Rocha began his career in the mid-fifties in Sao Paulo, the city where he still lives and that hosts a large part of its production. This did not prevent his work to assume a universal relevance, as shown, inter alia, by the Pritzker Prize award in 2006.
The architecture of Mendes da Rocha contains at its core a strong technical component, nevertheless its relevance in the contemporary scene is due the use it makes of this component. Technical content is essential to his architecture but it’s not sufficient. Rigor and poetry, beauty, political and social consciousness―all those values too often seen as irreconcilable opposites―can also be all met in Mendes da Rocha’s architecture.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Technique and Imagination
