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Indice Contents
4
Introducciones Introductions
4
14
24
31
32
38
46
52
Casa en Las Lomas, Ciudad de Mxico. House in Las Lomas, Mexico City. Grupo LBC, 1997
Casa en Contadero, Ciudad de Mxico. House in Contadero, Mexico City. Alberto Kalach & Daniel lvarez. 1997
Concesionaria Jaguar, Ciudad de Mxico. Jaguar showroom, Mexico City. TEN Arquitectos, 1997
Edificio de aulas del Centro de Investigacin y Docencia Econmicas, Ciudad de Mxico. Teaching block for the
Centro de Investigacin y Docencia Econmicas, Mexico City. Springall & Lira, 1997
Instituto Latinoamericano de Idiomas, San Jos de Costa Rica. Instituto Latioamericano de Idiomas, San Jos de
Costa Rica. Vctor Caas, 1996
Nueva Pinacoteca, Sao Paulo (Brasil). New art museum, Sao Paulo (Brazil). Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 1998
Oficinas RF, Curitiba (Brasil). RF offices, Curitiba (Brazil). Mario Biselli & Artur F. Katchborian, 1995
tica Shopping Cultural, Sao Paulo (Brasil). tica Shopping Cultural, Sao Paulo (Brazil). Paulo Bruna Arquitetos
Associados, 1995-1996
Campamento turstico Cayo Crasqui, Parque Nacional Archipilago Los Roques, Venezuela. Cayo Crasqui tourist
campsite, Parque Nacional Archipilago Los Roques, Venezuela. Jorge Ri gamonti, 199 1-1994
Industria foresta l Centromaderas, Santiago de Chile. Centromaderas timber processing plant, Santiago de Chile.
Jos Cruz Ovalle, 1996
La Habitacin, isla de Chilo (Chile). La Habitacin, isla de Chilo (Chile). Smiljan Radie, 1992-1997
Centro de Informacin y Documentacin Latinoamericano Sergio Larran Garca-Moreno, Santiago de Chile.
Centro de Informacin y Documentacin Latinoamericano Sergio Larran Garca-Moreno, Santiago de Chile.
Teodoro Fernndez/Smiljan Radie/ Cecilia Puga, 1994-1996.
Embarcacin experimental para la investigacin y la orientacin en la colonizacin de la regin austral , Huinay,
fiordo Comao/palena (Chile). Vessel for the Southern region. Experimental design for the exploration and
colonization of the inner sea. Huinay, fiordo Comao/palena (Chile). Boris Ivelic, 1994-1997
Pizarras Ibricas, Santiago de Chile. Pizarras Ibricas, Santiago de Chile. Mathias Klotz, 1997
Casa en la playa, Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay). House on the beach, Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay).
Mariano Clusellas, 1995
Plaza Santa Cruz, Rosario (Argentina). Santa Cru z square, Rosario (Argentina). Gerardo Caballero/Ariel Gimnez, 1990
Quincho Puricelli, Funes, Provincia de Santa Fe (Argentina). Quincho Puricelli, Funes, Provincia de Santa Fe (Argentina).
Gerardo Caballero/Ariel Gimnez, 1991-1992
58
62
70
76
82
88
92
98
104
108
11 4
120
124
129
Nexus
la
Text by
Carlos Eduardo Dias Comas
(le lo margillal
Latin American memorandum:
the architecturally exemplary
nature of the marginal
2G
Nexus
A long, pure prism, 14 storeys high, cuts across the square, central city block,
deploying at either end of its roof two curvilinear, blue projecting volumes linked
by a squat pavilion and surrounded by a terrace: the lift tower and water tank,
treated in such a way as to evoke the superstructure of a ship. The sea, visible
some 400 metres away, and the specific requirements of the programme give
an unusual density to what was even at the time a familiar metaphor. The
Education Minister had asked for an efficient office building which would at the
same time be the monumental representation of a nation that was rediscovering
its roots and reconstrueling itself lhrough the work of the Ministry: "a machine
for remembering".
Le Corbusier tried to satisfy this request and failed. The Brazilian eam was
more successful: working with the programme and the site, they took the
opportunity to correct the master on the basis of a perfect understanding of his
innovations in composition and the continuities wilhin the discipline that these
re-established.
The pure cuboid is here the free-standing and memorable exception in a selting
that is configured by continuous linear blocks. The glazing on the south facade
reveals the flat projecting floor slabs of the concrete structural skeleton and
reftects the old church opposite. The windows of the north facade are protected
by movable brise-soleil screens, enormous muxarabi which give unity to the
volume of the building. The side facades, narrow and blind, are ciad with local
granite. At the base of the building -supported on its magnificent pilotis, ten
metres higt>--- the two vestibules called for by lhe programme serve as a pretext
for making the central zone a hypostyle hall or a propylaeum, a void between
solids which at once invokes the Grand Trianon by Gabriel, the Bauhaus by
Gropius and the Palace of the Soviets by Le Corbusier. Not far from the imperial
plam planted by Burle Marx, the strict geometry of lhe slender cylindrical column
calls to mind the pillared villas of Rio and along the banks of the Nile.
The main vestibule is entered at one side, and is abulted on by two twa-storey
vestibules whose total height is the same as the pilotis. The lower-floors are
given over to services, while the upper floors accommodate a gallery and an
auditorium. The gallery is a transparent box, the auditorium a vaulted trapezium
flanked by glazed corridors. The coincidence of the longitudinal axis of the two
volumes and the fact that they are of the same width and material contribute to
our identifying lhem as a single cuboid, with one of its ends broken and deformed
by the wedge of the auditorium: a continuous low volume which clases off the
least important of the streets which bound the city block and interseels the
high-rise volume. The columns on the exterior of the gallery and the corridors
130
Nexus
2G
m
u"
:. :
.'
' 11
"O-
i ';'[l . \
. __
flanking Ihe auditorium are connected by corbels to the mezzanine floor slab,
thus reinforcing the iIIusion of a colossal contemporary arder.
The bands of floors on eilher side of the staff vestibule configure a vestigial
wing parallel to the lowrise block, in a balance between architecture and
vegetation which formalizes an idea insinuated by Le Corbusier into the
composition of his Palace for the League of Nations. Wilhout losing Ihe linearity
of Ihe shortcut, the granite esplanade in between is fragmented to form two
atriums which have Ihe Campidoglio and Versailles among Iheir not too distant
ancestors, as well as Ihe little squares in front of Brazil's colonial churches. The
tiles on Ihe walls of the staff vestibule are not standard mass-produced tiles;
Ihey compase painted panels and declare Iheir descent from !he baroque cloister
of Portuguese Brazil. The allusions are ambiguous but not esoteric. They are a
statement of typologicallineage and, perhaps, an affirmation of heritage which
permeates the mind while the body is attending to Ihe elaborate choreography
of access.
The main avenue in the centre of Rio, which is called Rio Branco, lies some two
hundred metres to the west of the Ministry block. The pure cuboid is set at right
angles to it, wilh Ihe low-rise volume running parallel to it, along the furthest
side of the complex. The fitting together of!he two volumes acknowledges the
predominant direction from which the place is approached, and !he strips of
vegetation contribute to !he precise definition of this acknowledgment. The
composition does not welcome a direct frontal approach, concealing itself Irom
!he eye by means of walls or voids.
when viewed from !he corners near the
Rio Branco avenue does !he architecture reveal its analomy and physiognomy,
and Ihe sightline Ihere is diagonal. If Ihe project was developed on Ihe basis of
orthogonal lines, axes, symmetries or balanced asymmetries, the positioning
of doors and portals privileges oblique, rotating or lateral perception and
movement; !he horizontality of the floor slabs disarms Ihe occasional affirmations
of centrality. The conceptual axis and the visual axis coincide only in the
auditorium, when the visitpr takes a seat for a well-earned rest afler !he exter>
ded process of approach and entry.
AII of these issues point l o the work's adherence to the ideas of modern
architecture as the debate between and integration of classical severity and a
picturesque topology. This adherence starts on !he oulside. The promenade
architecturale which Le Corbusier opposed to !he marche acadmique is able
to commence here in the apen airo The climate is conducive to extroversion,
favours spatial ambivalence and ambiguity, encourages the exuberance
insinuated by the additive composition and readily accepts !he porousness of
the built volume. Nothing could be easier than to interpret extroversion,
exuberance, porousness and ambiguity as the signs of an open landscape and
an open temperament, although !hese are here controlled by !he serene measure
corresponding to a monument.
The Ministry is, however, at once monument and prototype. Essentially in
harmony with and integrated into the place in which it is sited, it also has the
potential for being reproduced that is intrinsic to the prototype. Giedion
observed that it was "a sure step in the direction of a contemporary
monumentality". A partially built-up plaza surrounded by closed squares does
not correspond to the City of the Athens Charter. It seems instead to be
closer to a prototype for an institutional building which reinterprets, in
contemporary terms, the traditional ideas of street, block, square and the
opposition between urban fabric and monument.
131
2G
Nexus
132
At the same time, the Ministry is a pioneering application of the "free Iloor
plan and lacades" to a high-rise office building, and embodies a considerable number of technical innovations and relinements: the toadstool slabs
with their undersides covered with insulation material; the manually operated
brise-soleil screens set out from the lacade to allow the flow 01 air and
callibrated in scale to avoid giving the impression 01 a grille; the detailing 01
the windows in such a way as to ensure through ventilation across the upper
part 01 the panels which partition the typical Iloor plan, and the modular
organization of the lighting and telephone circuits, routed in ducts in the
ceilings and the continuous steel parapets beneath the windows.
The quality 01 the construction is lully equal to the quality 01 the project; the
care devoted to the practical aspects is linked to the concern with the
signilication; the representative character is not achieved at the expense 01
pragmatic responsibility and rigour. The materials are noble and enduring: a
machine lar remembering that was incapable 01 surviving materially would
be a contradiction, and so the minimizing of maintenance costs is an
economically sensible mea su re. The abstract lucidity 01 the project and the
rightness 01 the proportions are complemented by a tactile quality which
ensures both freshness and at the same time the appropriate warmth. The
Minister was pleased, and the discipline gratelu!.
"The charm of contradiction":
complex 01 Casino, Dance Hall, Yacht Club and Chapel by Pampulha
lake,
Horizonte, Brazil, 1940-1944
Osear Niemeyer
The Pampulha complex is laid ourt around the artilicial lake 01 the same name as
part of a luxury residential development near the city 01 Belo Horizonte, capital
of the state 01 Minas Gerais. The Casino, the Yacht Club and the Dance Hall
cater for the pleasures 01 !he flesh, while the Chapel dedicated to St Francis
enshrines the possibility of penitence. The Dance Hall is set on a little island,
reached by a lootbridge, while the other buildings stand on promontories,
bounded by the lake and the treejined avenue which cireles i!. The three secular buildings create a series 01 one-to-one relationships, as il they were the
vertices 01 a watery esplanade. From !he pool 01 the Yacht Club, the angularity
01 !he building is partally and laterally superimposed on !he tambour 01 the
Casino dance hall; Irom!he entrance patio in Iront 01 the dance hall, !he sinuosity
01 the canopy is silhouetted against the cuboid 01 the Casino's gaming room.
Wrth appropriate modesty and decorum, !he Chapel sets rrsell apart from its
prolane neighbours; !his is !he only building not designed as a Iree-standing
concrete structure.
"To Caesar that which is Caesar's," It would be difficult to think of a more
scintillating scenario lar the rituals 01 mundane indulgence than the Casino-villa.
The main lacade 01 travertine and glass invokes the Villa Savoye in more than
one 01 its details, while the colossal columns give it an imposing aspect and the
tiled base declares its links with the colonial pas!. The overall formality 01 !he
whole is only partially attenuated by the trapezoidal curve which coneludes the
canopy over the car court at !he entrance and by the nude sculpture which
gives emphasis to the transparency of the
vestibule. The cuboid,
which is perceived integrally Irom the access beneath the concrete canopy
supported on rrs slender steel pillars, is Iragmented horizontally as it turns !he
comer, configuring an observaban lounge under!he rnezzanine and unexpectedly
coupled to an oval glazed gallery, an odeum-palafitte that is itsell an echo 01 !he
promontory on which !he Casino stands. On its other side, !he main volume
articulates wi!h !he lower cuboid housing !he services. The Casino is a play of
volumes, and !he multiplying 01 volumes is also a sign 01 exuberance. Inside,
the columns are covered wi!h silver, the ramps are profligate in !heir use of
marble and!he walls are mirrored in pink to multiply ftatteringly!he laces suffused
with the tension 01 !he gaming tables.
On the opposite shore, the Yacht Club is a house-cum-boat with hard lines which
is launched into the water. On the bridge-like terrace, the rectangular-plan
functions hall lar parties and social get-toge!hers is covered by a butterfly roof
which paraphrases in concrete !he reddish rool 01 the Errazuris house and, in
the Yacht Club more than in the house, signals potential movemen!.
Nexus
2G
The lunctions hall is positioned axially on Ihe rool slab 01 the ground Iloor, and
set back Irom its edges on three sides, with a gallery to protect it on the
western side. This gallery is delined by the projection 01 the rool and a curtain
01 vertical brise-soleils running the length 01 Ihe lacade and set flush wrth the
wall 01 the boat-house below. This circumstance introduces asymmetry into the
basic se heme, and this asymmetry is countered, on the opposite side, by the
exterior ramp which connects the garden and Ihe terrace, which Iragments in
elevation the rectangularity 01 the plan and isolates the boat-house, ciad with
the same tiles as the Casino. The dynamic tension thus produced reinlorces the
nautical onomatopoeia, wilh which Ihe metal 01 Ihe curtain and Ihe wood panelling
on the walls 01 the lounge are in consonance. II Ihe tiles anchor Ihe boat-house
to the ground, the transparency 01 the glazing causes the lunctions hall to float,
while the brise-soleil curtain allows Ihe air to eirculate.
In the Dance Hall, designed lar a wider public, the service areas are arranged in
a crescent around the circular plan. The rool slab continues out to lorm a
eanopy wilh sinuous edges which are silhouetted against Ihe sky in an incredible
-il somewhat clumsy- stylization 01 clouds or treetops, as elemental lorms
01 protection against the inclemency 01 the sun.
The eanopy volume terminates in a small cabin wilh changing rooms and the
back wall 01 the circular open-air bandstand, set on the axis 01 Ihe dance hall
itsell. The scheme 01 the void between two solids is reiterated. Once again here
the gaze 01 the person leaning on the low wall Ihat acts as parapet is drawn
beyond the building, to enjoy the Iramed view 01 the aquatic landseape. And
once again the wall is ciad with the same type 01 tiles, and once again rt is
necessary to turn to enter inside the built volume.
The virtuoso skill in the combined manipulation 01 curve and straight line is
impressive, but it is nothing other than the intelligent orchestration 01 the
circulation routes. As in Poissy, the marriage 01 the motor car and Ihe suburb is
celebrated in the Casino: a slowly aseending curve deposits Ihe visitar beneath
the canopy. The ramps and stairs in Ihe interior 01 Ihe gaming room articulate
with the ramped and elliptical glazed peripheral corridors which lead up to the
restaurant, establishing a circuit in which the oportunities lar seeing and being
seen are multiplied on various levels. The Yacht Club -set at right angles to the
avenue in such a way that it presents pilotis below and a blind wall aboveimmediately invites the visitar to choose between the swimming pool on one
side, the garden on the olher and the clubhouse in the centre, the prelude to a
possible ascent by way 01 the spiral staircase next to the club secretary's office
or the exterior ramp leading to the terrace. The centrilugal dispersion 01 Ihe
ground Iloor is answered on the upper level by a perimetral circuit, crossed by
diagonal routes, which is established on Ihe basis 01 Ihe centralrty 01 Ihe staircase
and the acoustic shell, situated on the lowest part 01 the rool in arder to separate
the lunctions room Irom the lounge spaces, as well as by the positioning 01 Ihe
doors at the corners 01 the glazed skin. The shell is a curving plane which
merges with the slope 01the butterfly rool.
In arder to saleguard the appealling religious spirit 01 the brolher and protector
01 birds and animals, lar Ihe Chapel Niemeyer created parabolie shells emerging
out 01 the ground, a chapekum-hangar whose lacades are ideograms 01 spiritual
and topographieal elevation. From the lake, the shell 01 the nave is dominant, its
profile evoking the airship hangars at Orly by Freyssinet as much as rt does
Alberti's triumphal arch in Rimini. The panels 01 glass 01 Ihe end wall are protected
and cut off above by a metal brise-solel curtain similar to Ihe one on the Yaeht
133
2G Nexus
Desde el lago, la cscara de la nave domina y su perfil evoca el abrigo para
aviones en Orly, de Freyssenet, tanto como el arco de triunfo de f>Jberti en Rimini.
Los paneles de vidrio que la cierran se protegen y se cortan en la parte superior
mediante un cerramiento metlico similar al del yacht club. El nrtex se define
por la marquesina inclinada que parte de esa cscara y se empotra, en el otro
extremo, en el campanario clavado en el suelo como una estaca que se en sancha hacia arriba. El campanario se nos muestra como macizo cuando lo observamos de frente, pero se reduce a un marco cuando lo miramos en escorzo: una
estructura porticada de cuyo marco superior pende una campana protegida por
barras de hierro en diagonal que configuran dos redes o rejas muy abiertas.
Parbola y estaca se equilibran y definen otro portal asimtrico mediante
una marquesina. La osada tcnico-constructiva y la abstraccin formal
conjuran figuras sugerentes de la naturaleza del programa y de su contexto temporal y fsico.
Vi sta desde el lado de la avenida, las cscaras son cinco; la que ms
sobresale corresponde al altar. La silueta, que estiliza las montaas del
londo, enmarca un panel azul y blanco de azulejos pintados a mano, enriquecimiento iconogrfico y distincin jerrquica en comparacin con el
azulejo de serie empleado en los dems edilicios. El volumen cerrado y el
portal configurado por la marquesina y el campanario inducen a un recorrido lateral. El recorrido pone en evidencia la asociacin en cruz latina de
la proyeccin rectangular de la serie de bvedas y de la proyeccin en
trapecio de la nave, as como el encaje de la nave en la bveda ms alta .
Si el portal enloca al lago, la marquesina tira lateralmente y hace descubrir la entrada. El curso del movimiento se altera de nuevo al penetrar en
la nave. Otros portales reluerzan su axialidad: el primero es el constituido
por la escalera de caracol que conduce al coro y la pared curva del baptisterio; el segundo, por las columnas que sostienen la losa rectangular
del coro, volada en sus dos extremos. La centralidad del altar es reiterada por la disminucin de la seccin de la nave y de la luz que pasa por el
intersticio entre ambas bvedas, tamizada por la madera color caramelo
que las recubre y por el marrn y el rosa del Iresco que recubre la pared
del landa. La delicadeza y la simplicidad del interior contrasta con la retrica externa, el transepto que se sugiere desde aluera se puede comprender ahora como meramente alusivo, pues se trata de la acomodacin de
la sacrista y otros espacios auxiliares en las bvedas contiguas al altar.
Al salir, el cerramiento de la lachada de acceso atrae la atencin, y los
paneles recuadrados que lo constituyen aaden la nota l inal: la reminiscencia sutil de la Italia medieval del santo.
La dilerenciacin compOSitiva, material y signilicativa de los edilicios de
Pampulha es un demostracin contundente -porque est condensada
territorial mente- de la versatilidad de un nmero limitado de elementos
y principios lormales. La innegable unidad estilstica no excluye la variedad de la manifestacin singular, que se legitima ms por su correspondencia con programas de naturaleza diferente que por caractersticas de
situacin. La singularidad se acenta, en el ms extraordinario de los
programas, mediante la eleccin de un sistema es!"ructural especial que
no se encuadra en la regla de la estructura independiente: declaracin de
riqueza de medios tcnicos pero tambin de racionalidad al ser capaz de
relativizar la regla Irente a las circunstancias mltiples del siglo.
La vida suburb ana es una de esas circunstancia s, y no es casual que
Pampulha luera pregonada como empresa modernizadora. Niemeyer acepta los trminos del encargo y trata de hacer arquitectura, sin moralismos,
de un conjunto de instituciones capaces de polarizar una ciudad-jardn de
los adinerados . Pampulha reelabora el circuito de folies del parque aristocrtico del siglo XV'" para los apetitos burgueses del siglo xx -sin las
ovejas, que recordaran demasiado al mundo del trabajo, pero tambin
sin el eclecticismo que pondria excesivamente de manifiesto la arbitrariedad del gusto individual- . Pampulha opone al eclecticismo la convencin
discreta que cimienta la vida en sociedad, exorciza el mundo del trabajo
mediante la alianza entre el movimiento mecnico placentero y el goce de
una naturaleza artilicial ms natural que la naturaleza misma; y, sin embargo, la conviccin maniliesta en la reinterpretacin del templo insina,
incmodamente, la vanidad de tanto embrujo.
134
Club. The narttex is delined by the sloping canopy which takes off lrom it and
connects at its other end with the bell tower, driven into the ground like a stake,
widening as it rises. Salid when looked at straight on, the bell tower is reduced
to a mere Irame when seen lrom the side, a porticoed structure from whose
topmost plate hangs the bell, protected by diagonal lines 01 iron bars which
compase two very open grids or meshes. Parabola and stake are balanced and
deline another asymmetrical portal by means of a canopy. The technical and
constructive daring and the formal abstraction here conjure lorth figures
suggestive 01 the nature 01 the programme and its temporal and physical contexto
Seen Irom the avenue side, the chapel presents five shells, the one corresponding
to the attar projecting up above the others. The silhouelte, a stylized interpretation
of the mountains in the background, frames a panel 01 blue and white handpainted tiles, an iconographic enrichment and a hierarchical distinction in relation
to the mass-produced tiles used on the other Pampulha buildings. The elosed
volume and the portal configured by the canopy and the bell tower induce a
lateral itinerary, and this elearly reveals the association in the form 01 a Latin
cross 01 the rectangular projection of the series of vaults and the trapezoid
projection 01 the nave, togelher wilh the insertion 01 the nave into the tallest
vault. While the portal frames the lake, the canopy swings to the side to reveal
the entrance, and the course of movement changes once again on entering the
nave. Two lurther portal s reinforce the axiality here: the lirst is constituted by
the spiral stair that leads up to the choir and the curving wall 01 lhe baptistery,
the second by lhe pillars which support the rectangular slab 01 the choir, which
projects at eilher end. The centrality 01 the altar is emphasized by means 01 the
diminution of the section 01 the nave and by the light which enters through the
interstice between the two vaults, filtered by the caramel-coloured wood with
which these are panelled and by the brown and pink 01 the Iresco on the rear
wall. The delicacy and simplicity 01 the interior contrast with the rhetoric 01 the
outside, so that the suggestion 01 the transept on the exterior can be understood
as a mere allusion which accommodates the sacristy and other ancillary spaces
in the vaults alongside the altar. On leaving the chapel, lhe outer skin altracts
the altention, and the inset panels 01 which this is lormed sound the final note,
a subtle reminiscence 01 the mediaevalltaly 01 St Francis 01 Assisi.
The differentiation 01 the Pampulha buildings in terms 01 composition, materials
and signification is a powerlul demonstration -because so canden sed in area-01 the versatility 01 a limited number of elements and formal principies. The
undeniable stylistic unity does not preclude a variety in the individual expression,
which is legitimated more by its correspondence with the different kinds 01
programme than by the characteristics 01 situation. This individuality is
accentuated, in the most extraordinary programme, with the choice 01 a special
structural system which does not square with lhe rule 01 the Iree-standing
skeleton: a declaration of a richness of technical resources, but also 01 rationality
in relativizing the rule in the lace 01 the multiple circumstances 01 the century.
Suburban living is one oflhese circumstances, and it is no accidentthat Pampulha
was heralded as a modernizing enterprise. Niemeyer accepted the terms 01
the commission and set out to create a non-moralistic architecture tor a series
01 lacilities wilh the capacity to pOlarize a luxury residential development.
Pampulha is in effect a reworking 01 the circuit 01 lollies in the park of the 18thcentury English country house lar the bourgeois tastes of the 20th century;
without the sheep, which would remind people too much of the world of work,
but also without the eelecticism, which would make the arbitrariness 01 individual taste too apparent. ln opposition to eclecticism Pampulha puts lorward the
discreet convention which grounds lile in society, exorcizes the world 01work
by means of the alliance effected between pleasurable mechanical movement
and lhe enjoyment of an artificial "Nature" more natural than Nature itsell; and
yet, by means 01 the conviction manilested in the reinterpretation 01 lhe church,
it also uncomfortably insinuates the vanity 01 all these charms.
"TacUac bang bang!":
Barragn house and slUdio in Tacubaya, Mexico, 1947
Luis Barragn
The plot in a suburb 01 Mexico City with many 01 lhe characteristics 01 a village;
the high wall which bounds the street and establishes a elear separation between
Nexus
2G
public passage and domestic space in the Arab manner; the strident, vulgar
crome yellow, the rough-textured stucco of vernacular construction: all of Ihis
has been extensively recorded. But no mention is ever made of Ihe fact that the
garage door is wide enough for two cars, a sign of prosperity and of acceptance
of the realities of the times.
Don Luis' precious Cadillac gleams in the garage, and the garage has two
doors. One communicates with the hallway which adjoins rr, the other leads to
the superbly equipped steel and ceramic kitchen, by way of a corridor which is
flanked by a spiral service staircase. This staircase gives independent access
to the servants' bedrooms on the roof terrace and to the shared bathroom in
between. The two bedrooms downstairs have their own bathrooms, and at
some point the balhroom of the main bedroom had a jacuzzi installed. Opposite
the architecrs bed are his record collection and his Bang & Olufsen, notable for
its technical quality and Ihe exquisite minimalsm of the designo There is a guests'
bathroom off the hallway on the right, and another next to the small librarylounge upstairs. The Barragn house has been extolled as a stage set for
memory and dreams, but it is worth adding Ihat the stage machinery is of the
latest generation.
The sophistication of the scheme reveals a considerable degree of professional
ability. The regularity of Ihe floor plan is subdivided into three strips running
parallel to the street and garden, or into three bands at right angles to these, in
a vague reverberation of the old problem of the nine squares. On the middle
strip of Ihe parallel sequence are the service staircase and passageways, the
ante-rooms along whose sides run Ihe successive stretches of Ihe main staircase,
and the virtual corridor which leads to the studio; running alongside the garden
the bedrooms with communicating bathrooms are superimposed on the
sequence of kitchen, two dining rooms and living room, induding the connection
through to the studio; the strip flanking the street has the sequence of garage,
hallway, bathroom and library. The perpendicular bands take in the sequences
of garage, passageway and kitchen; hallway, ante-room and dining rooms, served
by the doakroom-washroom; the sequence of living room and double-height
library, their continuity marked by the absence of a door in the opening in the
wall between them. Living room and library are laid out in an L, with a few steps
separating the hallway from the ante-room on the ground floor, intercepted at
its middle section. Bedroom and bathroom constitute an integrated whole in
terms of communication wilh Ihe ante-rooms. The centrality and vertical continuity
of these ante-rooms are thus reinforced by the variation in height over the
stretches of staircase and by the skyligh!. The house practically dispenses with
corridors, and has a compact layout around a new courtyard that is not wilhout
its affinities with the house of the Tragic Poet at Pompeii which Le Corbusier so
much appreciated.
The reference to Le Corbusier is relevant, because the scheme here posits the
functional activation of the roof terrace, and it is legitimate to compare favourably
the treatment of the vertical circulation in Tacubaya with the functionally
specialized ramp at Poissy, even with respect to the privacy of communication
between bedrooms in the course of the aseen!. The spiral impulse up towards
the sky is counteracted by the hierarchy which the double height confers on the
group of living room and library befare going on to reintroduce itself with the
turn around the end of the dividing wall and the discovery of the projecting
staircase leading to Ihe Iittle living room above, a
reworking of the staircase
on the terrace of the Beistegui apartmen!. The rotating invitations are reiterated
135
2G Nexus
biblioteca, para reintroducirse de nuevo mediante el giro alrededor del extremo
de la pared divisoria y el descubrimiento de la escalera volada que conduce al
superior, hbil reelaboracin de la escalera en la terraza del apartamento Beistegui. Las invitaciones rotatorias se reiteran con la colocacin de un
mnimo de dos puertas en cada pieza de la planta baja. A ellas se suman
propuestas diagonales mediante la sabia disposicin de puertas, ventana s,
escaleras y vanos de paso. Como en el Ministerio, una distribucin sencilla y
totalmente ortogonal se vive entrecruzada por recorridos que la tensionan y
distorsionan, dilatando virtualmente las dimensiones del espacio. El drama aumenta con la habil manipulacin de pies derechos y costales que conecta a
Barragn tanto con Kahn y su actualizacin de la tradicin beaux-arts como
con el tradicional planteamiento del hotel particu/ier francs. Los closets de la
planta baja proporcionan espesor y sensacin de umbrales a las puertas entre
los comedores, el saln y el atrio.
La arquitectura de la casa Barragn es una arquitectura de planos, pero no la
del neoplasticismo ni la de la planta libre y su espacio sandwich. La manipulacin de alturas para lograr el volumen adecuado a la naturaleza funcional y al
tamao de las diferentes piezas se acerca al Raump/an de Loas. La eliminacin
de corredores y la multiplicacin de puertas por pieza permite conciliar una
experiencia de fluidez espacial con la de la autonoma de los recintos. El
tado es una propuesta alternativa de sintesis entre lo pintoresco y la racionale
dad constructrva, que se vale simplemente de la pureza de los elementos arquitectnicos para provocar una sensacin de modernidad a la vez Que de
atemporalidad. No se trata de la integracin de lo pintoresco y lo clsico que
pretendia Le Corbusier, ni el sistema es fcilmente trasladable a la edificacin
en altura, pues sta habitualmente requiere la presencia estructural de la columna, y la columna es ajena al sistema estructural de don Luis. Sin embargo,
en una casa, el sistema utilizado por Barragn permite una contundente unidad
formal y espacial sin prejuicio de la privacidad. Puede intentarse la coexistencia
de dos sistemas en la misma obra, como el de planta libre y compartimentacin
convencional con corredores en la Tugendhat de Mies, o la dificultad -mane
fiesta en Garches- de camuflar puertas corrientes en la mamposteria.
La bsqueda de unidad arquitectnica en el mbito domstico, el pragmatismo
material y constructivo demostrado en el proceso y las dificultades evidentes
de generalizar estrategias proyectuales ms all de la edificacin a baja altura
sugieren, como contrapartida, una aceptacin realista del eclecticismo tecnolgico, tanto en la construccin como en la ciudad moderna, que debe aceptar
la coexistencia yuxtapuesta de la ciudad de las torres y la ciudad de las casa s.
Mediante el planteamiento de una casa y un estudio modernos como unidades
autnomas en hilera, alineadas y desarrolladas entre medianeras -que asocian, adems, la vivienda y el trabajo-- don Luis demuestra que la manzana
tradicional no es de manera alguna incompatible con esa ciudad de casas, ni
con la comodidad y la mundanidad burguesas.
En efecto, la casa Barragn no parece asctica. Humilde y dorada, patinada y
brillante, francamente escenogrfica, recibe a una mundanidad culta y elegante: el saludo en el atrio, el tapado en el ropero, la copa en el saln, la conversacin con vajilla naif y cubiertos de plata lgicamente maciza, el puro en la
biblioteca, la charla intima en el saloncito, el baile en la azotea abierta al firmamento, el adis en el ve stbulo. Tampoco desecha la celebracin pagana del
cuerpo sudando al sol en total privacidad y, luego, bajando la escalera para
cambiarse de ropa en el bao de invitados. Pero es igualmente plausible pensarla llena de nios inocentes o como palco de meditacin austera, y tanta
polivalencia no es la menor de sus virtudes.
136
with the presence of at least lwo doors in each 01 the downstairs rooms. Added
to these are the diagonal indications, thanks to the intelligent positioning 01
doors, windows, stairs and passage spaces. As in the Ministry 01 Education in
Rio de Janeiro, a Simple and perfectly orthogonallayout is cut across by itineraries
which tense and distort it, effectively dilating the sense 01 the size 01 the space.
The drama increases with the skillul manipulation 01 studs and pochs, which
links Barragn at once to Kahn and his modernization of the Beaux Arts canon
and to the traditional organization 01 the French hotel particu/ier. The closets on
the ground Iloor give thickness and a sense of threshold to the doors belween
the dining rooms, the living room and the atrium.
The architecture 01 the Barragn house is an architecture 01 planes, but not one
01 neoplasticism or of the "free floor plan" and its sandwich space. The
manipulation 01 heights to achieve a volume in keeping with the lunctional nature
and the size of the different rooms comes elose to the Raump/an 01 Loas. The
elimination of corridors and the multiplication of doors per room serves to
reconcile an experience 01 spatial Iluidity with a sense 01 the autonomy 01 the
different rooms and spaces. The result is an alternative lorm 01 synlhesis belween
the picturesque and construction rationalism, which makes use of the purity 01
the architectural elements to create both an impression 01 modernity and a
sensation 01 timelessness. It is not a malter 01 integrating lhe picturesque into
the elassical, as Le Corbusier set out to do; nor can the system be readily
translated to buildings of considerable height, since these typically require
structural pillars, and the pillar is alien to the compositional system 01 Don Luis.
Nevertheless, when applied to a house, lhe system employed by Barragn
makes lar an entirely convincing lormal and spatial unity with no sacrilice 01
privacy, and it can avoid the coexistence 01 lwo systems in the same work, as
with lhe presence 01 lhe Iree 1I00r plan and lhe conventional compartmentalization
with corridors in Mies' Tugendhat house, or the difficulty -apparent in Garches01 camoullaging sliding doors in the labric 01 the walls.
The pursuit 01 architectural unity in the domestic sphere, the pragmatism 01
materials and construction demonstrated in the process and the eviden!
difficulties of extrapolating lhe project strategies employed to anything but lowrise buildings all suggest, on balance, a realistic acceptance 01 technological
eclecticism, both in construction and in the layout 01 the modern city; an
acceptance 01 the juxtaposed coexistence 01 the
01 tower blocks and the
city of houses. By means 01 lhe design 01 a modern house and studio as
autonomous
aligned in a row and constructed on a gap site -and at the
same time associating home and work- Don Luis demonstrates lhat the
traditional city block is in no sense incompatible with that city of houses, nor
with bourgeois comlort and social relinemen!.
In reality, the Barragn house does not appear ascetic. Humble and golden,
lustrous and brilliant, Irankly scenographic, it welcomes a cultured and elegant
worldliness: the greeting in the atrium, the coat hung up in the eloakroom, the
drink in the living room, the conversation accompanied by naif tableware and
logically salid silver cutlery, the line cigar in the library, the private chat in the
liltle lounge, the dance on the rool terrace under the stars, the larewell in the
hallway. Neither does it scorn the pagan celebration 01 the body sweating in the
sun in absolute privacy, then coming downstairs to wash and change in the
guests' bathroom. And yet it is eQually plausible to think 01 the house lilled with
innocent children, or as a haven lar austere meditation, and such polyvalence is
not the least of its virtues.
"The rationality 01 !he hall moon":
Parque Guinle apartments in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1948-1952
Lcio Costa
The site, measuring 400 x 400 m, has a complicated topography. Starting
from one vertex, an almost Ilat strip 100 m long borders the only street bounding
the plot to the south. At either end 01 this strip the terrain rises to delimit an oval
depression. The internal end 01 the strip also marks the end 01 the boundary
street and the junction 01 this with a very short perpendicular street which runs
off the districts main thoroughlare. At this point is the main entrance gateway,
built at the start 01 the century, together with the mansion on the higher ground
to the left of i!.
Nexus
la misma con una calle perpendicular muy corta que arranca de la via principal
del barrio. En este punto se localiza el portn de acceso, construido a principios de siglo junto con la mansin que se eleva a la izquierda.
El encargo surge cuando dicha mansin es vendida al Gobierno junto con una
porcin adyacente de terreno. En el terreno restante, de considerables dimensiones, la familia Guinle plantea la construccin de una urbanizacin residencial
de lujo: una combinacin de edilicios de apartamentos y de parcelas para
viviendas unilamiliares. Costa realiza el plan general y proyecta seis edilicios.
Mantiene la depresin del solar como parque colectivo y dispone un edilicio
Irente a la calle, al lado del antiguo portn, y los otros en una linea quebrada
que parte perpendicularmente y se desarrolla, aproximndose a un arco apaisado, entre dos de los limites del terreno; propone una calle serpenteante
arbolada que queda junto al parque y se prolonga y bilurca para permitir el
acceso a las parcelas de las viviendas unilamiliares.
Los edilicios de apartamentos son unos paralelepipedos de 65 metros de
largo por 15 metros de ancho que siguen los principios de Le Corbusier: esqueleto estructural de hormign independiente con losas planas de entresuelo
en voladizo, garaje en el subsuelo, pi/otis de doble altura en planta baja, dos
ncleos de ascensores y dos cajas de escaleras exteriores, dos apartamentos
dplex y dos normales en la planta tipo y apartamentos especiales circundados por terrazas en la ltima planta. Los cinco apartamentos tienen unas
mensiones que oscilan entre 225 y 515 m' y estn organizados en Iranjas
paralelas a lo largo de generosos espacios de circulacin intermedios.
La propuesta es directa pero no est exenta de sutilezas. La continuidad y la
alineacin de la construccin a lo largo de la calle limtrole se respetan y reluerzan. La rampa del garaje se separa del edilicio vecino. Una platalorma de
piedra sortea la pendiente relativamente dbil del terreno, constituyendo una
vereda elevada junto a los locales comerciales que comparten la planta baja de
pilotis con la entrada a uno de los ncleos de ascensores. Una marquesina
sobre delgadas columnas metlicas protege los escalones de acceso a la
platalorma y a la entrada de los apartamentos distribuidos en ocho plantas. La
pared vidriada del local comercial de la esquina se quiebra para indicar el
camino hacia el interior del solar.
El descubrimiento del parque es tambin el descubrimiento de la calle interior y de una sorprendente lectura del crescent georgiano -Edinburgo y
8ath reelaborados para atender a las necesidades del siglo-. Los bloques
interiores, una planta ms bajos, se disponen enlocando la vieja mansin, el
parque y las vistas a poniente, en direccin al mar. Continuidad y curvatura
son virtuales, producto de la poca distancia entre los bloques en comparacin con el largo de sus lachadas. La separacin permite acomodar mejor
los bloques a la pendiente, libera espacio para el acceso al garaje y valoriza
la otra entrada a los apartamentos del primer edilicio que, de esta lorma, se
entiende como bisagra en la articulacin del tejido existente con la nueva
intervencin. Las ventajas pragmticas del esquema son evidentes en comparacin con el precedente antiguo o con los rdents curvilineos que propuso Le Corbusier para Ro y Argel.
La planta baja de pilotis de los bloques es cannicamente abierta, a excepcin
de los dos ncleos de ascensores y sus respectivos vestibulos. Sin embargo,
aunque el pavimento de mosaico portugus de la acera se extienda hacia
dentro de la planta dilana, el desnivel en relacin a la calle y la vegetacin se
utilizan para restablecer la gradacin tradicional entre el dominio pblico de la
2G
The commission carne about when this mansion and the surrounding portian of
the plot were sold to the governmen!. On the considerable area 01 land that
remained, !he Guinle lamily decided to construct a luxury residential development,
a combination 01 apartment buildings and plots lar private houses. Costa drew
up the master plan and designed six buildings. He maintained the depression
as a communal park, and placed one 01 his buildings lronting the street, beside
the old gateway, and the others in a broken line, perpendicular to the street,
which develops in the lorm 01 a Ilatlened arc, extending between two 01 the
edges 01 the plot and a winding street, Ilanked with trees along the side 01 the
park, which continues on and lorks to give access to the area 01 single-Iamily
houses.
The buildings are horizontal blocks, 65 m long by 15 m wide, which lollow Le
Corbusier's principies: Iree-standing concrete structural skeleton with Ilat,
projecting Iloor slabs, underground garage, double-height pilotis on the ground
Iloor, two lift cores and two external staircases, two duplex and two normal
apartments on the typical floor plan and special apartments surrounded by
terraces on the top floor. The live apartment types, which range between 225
m2 and 515 m2, are laid out in parallel bands along the length 01 the generous
central circulation route.
The plan is direct, but not devoid 01 subtleties. The continuity and alignment 01
the construction along the boundary street are respected and reinlorced. The
ramp down to the garage separates one building Irom the nex!. A stone platform
compensates the relatively gentle slope, constituting a raised pavement in lront
01 the shops which share the ground-Iloor piloti space with the entrance to one
01 the lift cores. A canopy supported by delicate metal pillars protects the steps
giving access to the platform and the entrance to the apartments, laid out over
eight floors. The glazed wall 01 the shop on the corner turns to indicate the path
leading in to the interior 01 the plo!.
The discovery 01 !he park is also the discovery 01 the interior stree!. and 01 a
surprising rereading 01 the Georgian crescen!. Edinburgh and 8ath re-elaborated
to respond to 20th-century conditions. The interior blocks -one storey lowerare laid out lacing the old mansion, the park and the views to the west, in the
direction 01 the sea. Continuity and curvature are virtual, the product 01 !he
short distance between the blocks in comparison to the length 01 their lacades.
The separation serves to accommodate the blocks more easily to the slope,
liberates space lar access to the garage and marks out the other entrance to
137
2G Nexus
calle y el dominio semiprivado de la edificacin. Tampoco el espacio de pilo!is
est definido funcionalmente. El segmento central entre los dos vesubulos sirve de porte-cochre, los dos extremos parecen alpendres amueblados con
sillas de jardin, locales de estar o espera, semicerrados por la vegetacin, que
pueden usarse todo el ao y proporcionan vistas esplndidas tanto del parque,
ms abajo, cuanto de los peascos de granito que limitan el solar por el norte.
Si este es un trozo de Ciudad Radiante, hay que convenir que es una Ciudad
Radiante de
limpia de cualquier esquematismo y de todo prejuicio en
relacin con la herencia figurativa del urbanismo occidental.
El tratamiento de las fachadas tambin sorprende. En el primer bloque, los
salones y habitaciones frente a la calle exterior al sur se cierran con muros
cortina cuyos paneles inferiores son de vidrio pintado de azul; las paredes
laterales se revisten en piedra y estn perforadas por una hilera vertical de
ventana s cuadradas que corresponden a los baos en los extremos de la franja
intermedia de la planta. La neutralidad horizontal domina en ambos casos,
pero, frente al parque, hacia el que, lgicamente, se abren los salones y las
habitaciones de los bloques interiores, el vidrio se disimula detrs de elegantsimos recuadros de distinta textura, enrejados de piezas de cermica
rojiza o listones de madera pintados de blanco; aqullos perforados por un
marco central cuadrado, stos interrumpidos en una de las mitades superiores. La disposicin de los recuadros refleja las distribuciones interiores
ligeramente distintas de cada bloque, los enrejados protegen y animan las
galeras que el clima propicia y la orientacin reclama, los marcos son
vestigios de ventana s y antepecho para apoyarse y disfrutar del paisaje.
Las referencias al muxarabi luso brasileo son obvias, pero debera registrarse, tambin, la empata con el Terragni de la Casa del Fascio.
La generosidad dimensional de los apartamentos y la simplicidad de sus
plantas desarrolladas longitudinalmente contribuyen a darles una calidad
de casa desparramada, muy acorde con la tradicin brasilea de vivienda
rural. Incluso en los dplex, sugerente mente dispuestos en la seccin intermedia del bloque, Costa prefiere conectarse con los sobrados coloniales
-casas en hilera de dos plantas- y abstenerse de cualquier efecto dramtico en las secciones comparable a los de Le Corbusier en sus immeub/esvilla. La posibilidad, dado que haba recursos econmicos, de multiplicar
las circulaciones verticales y reducir al mnimo las circulaciones horizontales comunes no se ha desechado y, seguramente, este hecho ha contribuido a aumentar la sensacin de privacidad en los apartamentos. Ni la metfora del hotel, ni la del buque o monasterio se aplican a una empresa deliberadamente antiheroica, que rechaza la monumentalidad de la vivienda e
insiste en mantener un cierto decoro domstico, una sobriedad delicada
que no hace alarde del presupuesto privilegiado. Una coleccin de casas
apiladas no es la nica opcin para la vivienda colectiva, pero est lejos de
ser la menos grata.
La fe mueve ladrillos":
Iglesia en Allnlida, Uruguay, 1952-1959
Eladio Dieste
Dieste ala la cscara de cermica armada y el molde mvil. Sofisticados
procedimientos de calculo estructural y el ladrillo, abundante, barato y poco
exigente en cuanto a la especializacin de la mano de obra, le permiten
racionalizar la tcnica de ejecucin de distintos tipos de bvedas y lminas
curvas o plegadas. El mtodo y la escala son obviamente compatibles con
grandes luces y adecuadas al proyecto de fbricas, gimnasios, torres, tanques, silos y otro tipo de estructuras utilitaria s. La elegancia y la fuerza
plstica de los resultados sugieren posibilidades ms amplias, tal como
demuestra la iglesia en un suburbio del balneario para cla se media cerca
de Montevideo.
El emplazamiento es un solar rectangular en un pueblo informe de obreros
y campesinos que surte al balneario de lechugas, albailes y mucamas. El
encargo requiere economa y rapidez de ejecucin, y est limitado a una
cubierta. Dieste lo transforma en arquitectura. El plan propone una nave
basilical de 16 x 30 metros, paralela y muy prxima a la linea medianera
138
the apartments in the first building, which thus asks to be understood as the
hinge in the articulation of lhe new intervention with lhe existing elements. The
pragmatic advantages of lhis scheme are evident in comparison with bolh its
olcHlstablished predecessor and wilh the curvilinear reden! setbacks proposed
by Le Corbusier for Rio and Algiers.
The ground-floor piloti space beneath the blocks is kept rigorously clear, wilh
lhe exceplion of the two lilt cores and their respective vestibules. Nevertheless,
although the Portuguese mosaic paving of the pavement extends in under the
pilotis, the difference in level in relation to the street and the vegetation are used
to re-establish the traditional gradation between lhe public domain of lhe street
and the sem;.pr"ate domain of lhe building. Nor is lhe piloli space given a
functional definilion. The central segment between the two vestibules serves as
a porte-cochre, the two ends resemble shelters furnished wilh garden chairs,
spaces for sitting or waiting in, half-enclosed by the greenery, which can be used
all year round, offering splendid views of bolh lhe park below and the granrte
crags which bound the plot to the north. If this is a portian of Ville Radieuse, it
has to be said that it is an adult Ville Radieuse, free of any kind of schematism or
prejudice in relation to lhe figurat"e heritage of Western urban designo
There are no surprises in lhe treabnent of the facades, erther. In the first block,
the living rooms and bedrooms overlooking the exterior street to lhe south are
enclosed by a curtain wall whose lower panel s are of blue-painted glass, while
lhe sides are ciad with stone, perforated by a vertical strip of square windows
corresponding to the balhrooms at lhe end of lhe central strip of lhe plan. In bolh
cases, horizontal neutralrty dominates. On park side, however, which is logically
lhe facade on which the living rooms and bedrooms of lhe interior blocks are
sfuated, lhe glazing is dissimulated behind very elegant panels of different textures,
latliced by grilles of reddish ceramic or with whrte-painted vertical wooden slats,
here perforated by a central square frame, there interrupted in one of the upper
halves. The disposition of the panels reflects lhe organization of the interior,
slightly different in each block; lhe lattices protect and enliven lhe verandas
which lhe climate invrtes and lhe orientalion calls for; lhe frames are vesliges of
windows wrth a parapet to lean on while enjoying the view of the landscape .. The
references to the Luso-Brazilian Muxarabi Moorish style are obvious, but it is also
worth noting lhe empalhy wilh lhe Terragni of lhe Casa del Fascio.
The generosity of dimensions of lhe apartments and lhe simplicity of lheir
longitudinally developed floor plans contribute to lhat character of the extended, disperse house so much a part of the tradition of the rural dwelling in
Brazil. Even in
duplex apartments, suggestively srtualed in the central strip
of the block, Costa preferred to link up with the colonial sobrado, or two-storey
row house, ralher lhan indulge in any dramatic secbonal effect of lhe kind essayed
by Le Corbusier in the Immeubles-Villas. The economically feasible option of
multiplying lhe vertical circulation routes and reducing communal horizontal
circulation to a minimum was not ignored, and this undoubtedly contributes to
the great sensation of privacy enjoyed by the apartments. Neither the metaphor
of lhe hotel nor those of the ocean liner or the monastery can be applied to an
enterprise that is so deliberately antK1eroic, which rejects the monumentalizaban
of housing and insists on maintaining a certain domestic decorum, a delicate
sobriety that does not make a great show of its privileged budget. Evidently a
collection of homes stacked on top of one another is not the only solution for
lhe residenlial development, but it is far from being the least satisfactory.
"Faith moves bricks":
Church in Allntida, Uruguay, 1952-1959
Eladio Dieste
Dieste here allies the shell of reinforced ceramic with the movable mould.
Sophisticated procedures of structural calculation and the use of brick abundant, cheap and practical in not requiring a specialized work force- allow
him to rationalize lhe technique for constructing different types of vault and
curved or folded sheeting. The method and the scale are obviously compatible
with large spans and the design of factories, gymnasiums, towers, tanks, silos
and other types of utilitarian structure. The elegance and visual strength of the
results suggest a wider range of possibilities, exemplified by this church on lhe
outskirts of a middle-class coastal resort near Montevideo.
Nexu, 2G
norte. El conjunto de paredes y cubierta se concibe como una gran cscara de doble curvatura que se apoya en el terreno mediante pilotes in situ.
Cada pared, de 7 metros de altura y 30 centmetros de espesor, est lormada por una sucesin de conodes de direccn recta a nivel de suelo y
ondulada (con una parbola y dos medias parbolas acordadas por una
onda) en la parte superor. Se remata con una carrera horizontal de ladrillo
y hormign que hace de alero y absorbe el empuje de la bveda de cubierta, cuyo ladrillo est recubierto por una capa de tejuela cermica porosa,
muy aislante y liviana. La luz media de la bveda es de 16 metros, la mxima de 18,8 metros y la Ilecha varia de 7 a 147 centmetros, por lo que el
valle de la onda es casi horizontal.
El Irente de la nave, a poniente, est ocupado por el entresuelo de ladrillo
del coro, cerrado al exterior por un muro calado y ligeramente retirado de
la proyeccin de la cubierta. Debajo del coro se imbrican dos paredes en
lorma de gancho creando una entrad a lateral a la nave. Una cierra el recinto de los conlesionarios. La otra se abre hacia el atrio como un bside y
deline un nrtex de tres metros de altura. El presbiterio est simtrica y
cntricamente delinido por un muro bajo, de lorma tambin absidial, que
encierra un altar muy simple, de cara al pueblo. El pasillo entre la pared
externa y el trecho izquierdo de ese muro conduce a una capilla al Ion do; el
pasillO correspondiente a la derecha conduce a la entrada de la antesacrista
y a la sacristia detrs del altar. El baptisterio es una cripta circular cerrada
que est situada Irente a los conle sionarios. Est techada por una cpula
cubierta de tierra que se insina desde la entrada y se ilumina por un
lucernario de nice Iras lcido. Se vincula al exterior por un conjunto de
escalera y corredor subterrneos cuya entrada se muestra como un prisma triangular que arranca de la acera adyacente al lmite del solar. El corredor termina en otra escalera, perpendicular a l, por la que se llega a la
nave y encima de la cual otro tramo protege el recinto de los conlesionarios y conduce al coro. El campanario es una torre calada y aislada junto a
la linea medianera sur. La entrada de la escalera y la cpula de la cripta, por
un lado, y el extremo de la pared sur de la nave y el campanario, por otro,
proponen un plano virtual que privilegia una aproximacin oblicua que converge en el nrtex, paso obligado del ingreso a la nave.
Resulta claro que la curvatura de los cerramientos otorga una condicin
singular y diversa tanto al volumen exterior como al interior, que la condicin aditiva del ladrillo proporciona textura y vitalidad a las superlicies y
que la opcin estructural conliere un inters extraordinario al proyecto.
Menos evidente -pese al testimonio de Dieste- es la elaboracin de un
esquema simple que acenta la experiencia de la iglesia como recorrido y
procesin pausada, idea litrgica y simblicamente coherente. Esto se pone
de maniliesto en la disposicin de la entrada y su relacin con el nrtex, y
en la solucin planteada para el baptisterio: el oliciante esperando junto a
la entrada, el descenso, el ingreso lateral a la cripta, el ritual, la salida , el
corredor, otro giro a noventa grados y la ascensin que revela oblicuamente
la nave y el altar. La ubicacin de la sacristia y la delimitacin del altar
postulan la aparicin gradual y expresiva del oliciante. La eliminacin del
comulgatorio, entonces novedosa , y los escalones entre nave y presbiterio
permiten la integracin sin que ello suponga la prdida del carcter sutilmente jerrquico que corresponde al altar del sacrilicio. El campanario es
un mirador y la vista que proporciona bien vale el ascenso en espiral.
139
2G
Nexu,
La luz, cuidadosamente medida, penetra a travs de unas pequeas aberturas en la parte superior de las paredes onduladas, a travs de la bveda
sobre el altar, a travs del muro calado en la parte posterior del coro, o de
la ventana horizontal entre la pared rugosa del fondo de la nave y la pared
baja de la sacrista, as como a travs de las franjas entre el conjunto del
coro y el de las paredes y cubierta de la nave. Estas franjas confirman la
moderna independencia estructural de los dos conjuntos e introducen una
nota de ligereza a la omnipresencia del ladrillo, tejido en aparejos distintos
conforme se trate de piso, soporte, cerramiento o cubierta. Las franja s
tambin contribuyen a conferir un cierto carcter de tela plegada a la sucesin de bvedas de la nave, permitiendo, de esa forma, una metafrica
tran substanciacin en la tenda de Dios. Los aparejos nos recuerdan que la
mampostera es un procedimiento tcnico primordial y que la junta es su
atavo. A 30 dlares el metro cuadrado, el milagro es de los grandes.
"La selva de piedra":
Banco de Londres, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1958-1966
Clorindo Testa, Santiago Snchez Elia, Federico Peralta Ramos, Alfredo Agostini
Una operacin de prestigio para la acomodacin del extenso programa de una
sede bancaria; el solar en la esquina de una manzana decimonnica del distrito
financiero, frente a dos calles angosta s; la aceptacin necesaria de la callecorredor; la exitosa compatibilizacin volumtrica de la intervencin nueva con
la manzana preexistente y sus edificios acadmicos de comienzos de siglo:
todo eso ha sido ampliamente registrado. Urbansticamente, la situacin no
era muy distinta al problema resuelto en 1936 por los hermanos Roberto en la
sede de la Asociacin Brasilea de Prensa de Ro o por Niemeyer en su Banco
Boavista de 1946.
Pero tanto la Asociacin Brasilea de Prensa como el Banco Boavista emplean
un esqueleto estructural independiente convencional, y el saln prinCipal del
segundo no tiene el porte que requiere todo un Banco de Londres. El proyecto
de SOM para el Manufacturers Hanover Trust en Nueva York podra haber sido
una referencia, pero su gran saln tiene columnas y Testa interpret la exigencia de espacio unificado para atender al pblico como una "plaza cubierta":
vale decir, un gran espacio libre de columnas, equivalente a uno de los vestbulos de Soane para el Banco de Inglaterra, y con una integracin entre espacio
y estructura equivalente a la que proporciona una cpula.
La imposibilidad de resolver en una nica planta los espacios pblicos del programa y la necesidad de superposicin vertical de espacios pblicos y privados estn en la raz de la solucin propuesta, cuyo esquema conceptual es
bastante sencillo. Una losa de cubierta rectangular y nervada de hormign a la
misma altura que las cornisas de los edificios vecinos, apoyos a lo largo de los
bordes ms extensos y dos cajas intermedias de escaleras y ascensores,
alineadas segn el eje longitudinal, constituyen la estructura primaria y configuran tres naves paralelas. La intermedia se divide en cinco tramos, los tramos
extremos y el central quedan libres. Los apoyos perifricos y los ncleos de
escaleras y ascensores soportan la losa de la planta baja y las losas de los
subsuelos, con el concurso de dos lneas dobles de pilares a lo largo del eje
longitudinal de las naves extremas. El espacio entre la cubierta y la planta baja
se repuebla con dos alas de tres pisos semiprivados cada una, suspendidos de
la losa de cubierta por cables de acero, y por dos conjuntos laterales de dos
bandejas superpuestas voladas de la expansin vertical de los pilares dobles.
Tanto los lorjados suspendidos como las bandejas se comunican con los ncleos de comunicaCin verticales y miran hacia el gran vaco entre ellas. La
losa de la planta baja se eleva respecto a la acera para permitir la iluminacin
del primer subsuelo. La atencin al pblico se asocia al primer subsuelo, a la
planta baja y a las bandejas; los dos subsuelos a las cmaras acorazadas y al
aparcamiento. Las cajas de escalera y de ascensores se alzan ms all de la
cubierta para sostener dos losas angostas en voladizo, ubicacin conveniente
para los comedores del personal.
El proyecto combina la idea de suspensin -que remite al proyecto de
nas propuesto por Amancio Williams en 1946- con la estructura en rbol
propuesta por Frank Lloyd Wright en el proyecto de la S!. Mark's Tower de
1949 y realizada en la Torre Johnson y en las Oficinas Price. A la integracin de
140
The then innovative elimination of the communion rail and the steps between
nave and presbylery serve at once to effect integration and subtly maintain the
hierarchy which corresponds to the sacrificial altar. The bell tower is a belvedere, and the views from the top are well worth making the spiral aseen!.
The carefully measured light enters through small openings in the upper part of
the undulating walls, through the vault above tlle altar, through the fretwork wall
at the back 01 the choir, and also through the horizontal window between the
rough wall at the end 01 the nave and the low wall 01 the sacristy, as well as
through the channels between tlle choir complex and tllat 01 the walls and roof
01 tlle nave. These channels confirm tlle contemporary structural independence
01 the two complexes and introduce a touch of lightness into the omnipresent
brickwork, laid in different bonds according to its function as floor, support or
skin. The channels serve to give tlle appearance of folded clotll to tlle succession
of vaults of the nave and its metaphorical transubstantiation into tlle tent of
God. The brickwork bonds recall to mind the fact that the brick is a primordial
technological product and the joint its vestmen!. At a cost of 30 dollars per
square metre, this is no small miracle.
"The stone forest" o
Banco de Londres, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1958-1966
Clorindo Testa, Santiago Snchez Elia, Federico Peralta Ramos, Alfredo Agostini
This was a prestige operation for the accommodation of the extensive
programme for a bank headquarters: the plot on the corner of a 19th-century
block in the financial district, at the junction of two narrow streets; the necessary
acceptance of the corridor-street; the successful volumetric integralion of the
new intervention with the existing block and its academicist buildings from the
early years of the century: all of this has been amply recorded. In urbanistic
terms, the situation is not much different from tlle problem resolved in 1936 by
the Roberto brothers with their headquarters for the Srazilian Press Associalion
in Rio or the one Niemeyer resolved witll his Sanco Boavista in 1946.
However, both the Brazilian Press Association and the Banco Boavista employ
a normal independent skeleton, and the main hall of the lalter has a smaller
span than tllat required for the Banco de Londres. The project by SOM for tlle
Manufacturers' Hanover Trust in New York might have served as a reference,
but the main hall there has columns and Testa interpreted the request for a
unified space for dealing witll tlle public as a "roofed plaza"; in otller words, as
a great space free of pillars, equivalent to one of Soane's halls for the Bank of
England, and with an integration between space and structure equivalent to
that proportioned by the dome.
The impossibility of resolving on a single floor all of tlle programme's public
spaces and the need for the vertical superposition of public and private spaces
underlie the proposed sOlution, which has a fairly simple conceptual scheme. A
rectangular bultressed concrete rool slab at the same height as the cornices of
tlle neighbouring buildings, supports along the length of the longer sides, and
two intermediate wells lar stairs and lifts aligned with tlle longitudinal axis
constitute the primary structure and configure three parallel bays, the middle
bay being divided into five sections witll tlle outer and central sections free. The
lateral supports and the wells carry the roof slab of the ground floor and the
slabs of the basement levels with the concurrence of two double lines of pillars
along the length of the longitudinal axis of tlle outer bays. The space between
Nexus
estructura y espacio se suma la integracin de instalaciones y estructura, contempornea al trabajo de Kahn en los Laboratorios Richards. Adems de los
huecos entre los ncleos de comunicacin vertical se aprovechan aqullos
entre los pilares dobles y entre las placas muy prximas que quedan conformadas por los apoyos perifricos. Disimulados junto a las medianeras o junto a
las calles, estos ltimos se detallan a la manera de andamios o paredes plegadas, fruncidas y ceidas por placas cuyas perforaciones recuerdan a la casa
Batll y Chandigarh tanto como a piezas de mecano. Su materialidad confirma
el rechazo de una arquitectura arquitrabada, su disposicin seala la transformacin de la simetria y la ortogonalidad del esquema bsico por la asimetda y
diagonalidad de su posicin en esquina.
La transformacin comprende el recorte en L de la losa de cubierta -que
genera una franja de iluminacin junto a la medianera ms larga- y se acompaa de la provisin de apoyos ad hoc, perpendiculares a esa medianera,
adems de una cubierta metlica que cierra la franja al nivel del forjado suspendido inferior. Comprende, tambin, el largo diferente de cada ala de bandejas,
la disminucin de la anchura del ala ms interna de los forjados suspendidos y
la invasin, por estos forjados, del tramo de la nave central junto a la calle,
medidas que permiten configurar una loggia y un vestibulo de entrada rectangulares. Dispuesta paralelamente a la calle Florida, la gran calle comercial del
centro, la loggia pone de relieve la altura total de la losa de cubierta e incluye,
en su borde, la plataforma de entrada elevada y perpendicular a dicha calle; el
vestibulo de triple altura se conecta, de frente, con la nave extrema y, a la
izquierda, mediante una ancha escalera, con el primer subsuelo. Dos paos de
vidrio en forma de L se extienden desde la planta baja hasta la losa de cubierta
para cerrar el volumen, insertndose entre las placas perifricas y los bordes
de los forjados suspendidos y las bandejas en voladizo, resaltando la clara
autonoma de los elementos constructivos.
Si la verticalidad de las placas se corresponde con los rdenes gigantes de los
edificios vecinos, equilibrando semejanzas y diferencias entre lo nuevo y lo
viejo, el tratamiento de la esquina exagera la diferenciacin respecto a la ciudad tradicional y monumentaliza la entrada. La monumentalidad se vuelve paradjicamente ms intensa por la presencia aislada de dos volmenes bajos de
cantos redondeados que actan como centinelas de ese lugar intermedio. La
transparencia del vidrio intensifica la repentina ampliacin de la calle y propone
2G
roof and ground floor is occupied by two wings of three sem>private floors
each, suspended from Ihe roof slab by steel cables and by two lateral series of
two superimposed platforms, projecting from the vertical expansion of the double
pillars. Both the suspended floors and the platforms communicate with the
vertical circulation cores and look anta the great void between them. The ground
floor slab is raised above street level to let daylight into the first basemen!.
Atlention to the public is concentrated on the first basement level, the ground
floor and the platforms, with the bank vaults and car park on the two lower
basements. The vertical circulation cores continue up above the roof to support
two narrow projecting slabs on which the staff dining rooms are situated.
The scheme combines the idea of suspension -which evokes the project for
an office building produced by Amancio Williams in 1946- with the tree-like
structure proposed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his St Mark's Tower project in
1929, and subsequently embodied in the Johnson Building and the Price Tower.
Added to the integration of structure and space is the incorporation of services
into the structure, contemporary with Kahn's work in the Richards Laboratories.
In addition to the voids of the stairwells and lift shafts, use is also made of the
voids between the double pillars and the closely adjacent panels of the lateral
supports. Dissimulated where they abut on Ihe party walls, on Ihe streetfacades
these are detailed in the manner of scaffolding or folding walls, gathered in and
held in place by panels whose perforations recall Ihe Batll house and Chandigarh,
or pieces from a Meccano se!. Their materiality confirms the rejection of an
architraved architecture, while their disposition signals the transformation of
Ihe symmetry and orthogonal regularity of the basic scheme on the basis of the
asymmetry and diagonal orientation of the corner site.
This transformation consists of the L cut out of the roof slab -which generates
a gap for illumination next to the longer party wall and is accompanied by the
provision of ad hoc supports at right angles to that wall- together with a metal
roof which clases off the gap at the level of the suspended lower floor. It also
comprises the different length of each wing of platforms, the diminishing width
of the more internal wing of suspended floors and the invasion by these floors
of the stretch of the central bay next to the street, measures which make it
possible to configure a rectangular loggia and entrance hall. Laid out parallel to
the majar commercial thoroughfare of the city centre, calle Florida, the loggia
places in relief the total height of the roof slab and includes at its edge the
raised entrance platform at right angles to calle Florida. The triple-height vestibule
which follows on from this connects in front with the outermost bay and on the
left, by way of a broad flight of stairs, wilh the first basemen!. Two sheets of
glass in an L extend Irom the ground Iloor to the rool slab to clase off the
volume, inserting themselves between the peripheral panels and the edges 01
the suspended Iloors and projecting platforms in such a way as to leave clear
the original autonomy 01 the construction elements.
If the verticality 01 the panel s corresponds to the gigantic orders of the
neighbouring buildings, balancing similarities and differences between the new
and the old, the treatrnent 01 Ihe corner effectively exaggerates the differentiation
with respect to the conventional Buenos Aires octagonal chamlered block and
monumentalizes the entrance. Paradoxically, this monumentality is made more
intense by the isolated presence 01 two low, round-edged volumes which act as
sentinels guarding the intermediate zone. The transparency 01 the glazing
intensifies the sudden widening 01 the street and propases a continuity between
exterior and interior that is duly qualilied by the steps leading to the entrance
141
2G
Nexus
una continuidad entre exterior e interior, debidamente matizada por los escalones que conducen a la plataforma de entrada y por la marquesina sobre las
puertas giratorias. El acceso al interior del Banco implica el paso por el vestbulo y un giro que permite descubrir tanto la extensin horizontal de la gran sala
como percatarse de su expansin vertical a travs de los intersticios entre las
losas y entre las losas y la pared de vidrio. El contraste con la estrechez de las
calles adyacentes es enorme y se acompaa de una fuerte sensacin de
descompresin y alivio, anloga a la que se experimenta al llegar a un claro
despus de una marcha por la selva cerrada.
Pero la sensacin es cosa de un instante, porque de inmediato se comprende
que el claro se limita al vestibulo y que otro tipo de marcha y otro tipo de selva
estn aguardando. Los ascensores se presentan moldeados en curvas que se
distribuyen en anillos ambiguos, sugerencia de torno, rbol o ttem. Si hay
insinuacin de primitivismo vertical, la sofisticacin tecnOlgica es patente, la
calidad de los materiales impresionante, la ejecucin impecable y los lugares
de atencin al pblico se perfilan y propagan comprometidos con la unidad del
paisaje horizontal bajo las losas en voladizo o suspendidas. La unidad del espacio es an ms excrrante que en las oficinas Larkin de Wright, porque la sensacin de flotar inmerso en l no tiene precedente. La libertad visual es el
prerrequisito del control total del espacio, no obstante, tal como corresponde
a un edificio bancario, la disciplina impera.
A despecho de lo que dice su autor, el Banco de Londres no es ni podria ser,
fenomenolgicamente, una plaza, y parte de su mrito es evidenciar esto
tipolgica y figurativamente. Si la envolvente de vidrio se asocia a la idea de
banco tran sparente, amable y sin secretos, las placas y enrejados exteriores la
desmitifican, reintroduciendo una terribilit ms verdadera y consecuente: un
hormign que luce como piedra y encarcela como jaula. Ni fortaleza como el
Palazzo Medici Riccardi ni tampoco dosel como el Hanover Trust; calificado de
panptico por su ambivalencia y ambigedad, puetazo y a la vez colirio, el
Banco de Londres persiste, inimitable y fundamental.
platform and the canopy over the revolving doors. Penetration into the interior
of the bank involves crossing the entrance hall and the turning which reveals
both the horizontal extension of the banking hall and a perception of its vertical
expansion by means 01 the gaps between the floor slabs and between the slabs
and the glass wall. The contrast with the narrowness of the neighbouring streets
is profound, and is accompanied by a strong sensation of decompression and
relief, analogous to that of arriving at a clearing alter a forced march through
dense forest.
However, this sensation is momentary, because the eye immediately perceives
that the clearing is restricted to the entrance hall, and that another kind of
march and another kind of forest lie ahead. The mechanisms for ascent present
themselves as moulded in curves which are distributed in ambiguous rings
which suggest drum, tree or totem.lfthere is an insinuation ofvertical primitivism,
the technological sophistication is clearly in evidence, the material quality is
impressive, the execution is impeccable and the client-service balconies are
profiled and propagated as committed to the unity of the horizontallandscape
beneath the projecting or suspended planes. Here the unity of space is even
more exciting than in Wrighfs Larkin Building, because the sensation of floating
immersed in it has no precedent. Although visual freedom is a prerequisite for
the total control of space, discipline clearly prevails, as befits the function here.
In spite of the architecfs comments, in phenomenologic terms the Banco de
Londres neither is nor could be a plaza, and part of its merit lies in the way it
evidences this both typologically and figuratively. If the glass skin is associated
with the idea of the transparent bank, all friendly candour, with no secrets, the
panel s and grilles on the exterior debunk this, reintroducing a more truthlul and
consistent terribilitil by means 01 a concrete which shines like stone and shuts
in like a cage of dense foliage. Neither a fortress like the Palazzo Medici Riccardi
nor a canopy like the Hanover Trust, a panopticon qualified by ambivalence and
ambiguity, a punch in the face and at the same time a salve for the eyes, the
Banco de Londres remains inimitable and fundamental.
142
Nexus
2G
La revisin y reapreciacin de todo este legado no agotan el tema, pero sugieren lo opuesto: una declaracin de alcance general cuyo neleo es la reflexin
sobre el carcter del programa y de la situacin, tomadas como fuente s legitimas de diversificacin formal dentro del marco de un sistema de composicin
integrador de la geometra y la materialidad del objeto arqurtectnico' La tensin consciente entre composicin correcta y caracterizacin apropiada supone la incorporacin de la exploracin de la multiplicidad en las tareas del arque
tecto y la posibilidad de condensarlas en un repertorio disciplinario de problemas, soluciones y estrategias proyectuales-tipo de naturaleza abiertamente
revolucionaria. Imaginativamente realista y provocativamente conciliador, el discurso que de ah resulta es una referencia que seguramente merece una discusin ms atenta y prolongada.
The revision and reappraisal of \his legacy do not exhaust \he subject but suggest
the opposite: a deelaration of a general scope whose nueleus is a reflection on
\he nature of the programme and the site, regarded as legitimate sources of
formal diversificaban within \he framework of a compositional system which
embraces the geometry and materialijy of the architectonic object. 3 The
conscious tension between correct composition and appropriate characterization
creates \he conditions for an exploration of the multiplicijy of \he tasks on the
architecfs agenda and tests out the possibilijy of condensing these in a
disciplinary repertoire of jypical project-related problems, solutons and strategies
of an openly evolutionary nature. Imaginatively realist and provocatively
conciliatory, the discourse that derives from this is a reference that undoubtedly
deserves more altentive and extended discussion.
Notas
Notes
J. It does not nclude other wor/(s of key
importance in the transformation of purist
vocabulary and syntax by lucio Costa and
Oscar Niemeyer, such as the Brazilian Pavilion
at the New York World's Fair in 1939 or the
hatels in Duro Preto (1940/ and Friburgo
(1944/. Also absent are !he Ciudad
Universitaria in Caracas, with its Covered Plaza
and Auditorium by Carlos RaUl Vdlanueva, and
the UnNersity City in Mexico with that curious
Pavilion of Cosmic Rays by Felix Candela, as is
/he grea! composmoo of the Parque lbirapvra
by Niemeyer (1951-1954). No place is given to
works from the 50s characterized by the
protagonism of structures with a large span,
such as Niemeyer's Duchen factory, Candela's
churches, Ihe stadiums and clubs by Artigas
and Paulo Mendes da Rocha in Sao Paulo, !he
Museum of Modem Art in Rio by Reidy, the Sao
Pau/o Museum of Art by Una Bo Bardi, !he
Faculty of Architecfure at Sao Paulo University
by Arrigas and tlIe Columbarium in
Monlevideo's Cementerio Norte by Nelson
Bayardo. Other very skilfully resolved religious
bulldings are also deserving of mention: !he
Capuchin Chapel and the restoration of the;r
Convent by Barragan (1952-1955/, !he Church
of Fatima by Claudio Caveri (19571 and the
Church of /he Benedictine Monastery in
Santiago de Chile (1961/ by Martil1 Correa and
Gabriel Guardia.
&! !he domestic sphere, a complete panorama
could nol leave out Amancio Wifliams' tO/N<Je.
force in his BridgeHouse in Mar del Plata
(1946) or other manifesto-hooses such as the
Una So Bardi house in sao Paulo (1951) and
!he Niemeyer house in Rio (1953), Villanueva's
hooses en Ihe beach and in the city, /he o/her
houses by Barragn and the enes designed by
Rino Levi in the garden suburbs of Sao Paulo.
In fhe realm of collective housing, it is
important to note the differen! types of row
houses designed by Niemeyer for /he Campus
of the Aeronautical Technical Centre (1947)
and the spectacular, if questionable,
Pedregulho complex by Reidy (1952).
Throughout this period, /he /arge number of
apartment blocks and office buildings inserted
into the conventional urban fabric effectively
reveals /he compatibi/ity of the inherited city
and modern architecture, such as !he Virrey
del Pino by Kurchan and Hardoy in Buenos
Aires and /he COPAN by Niemeyer in Sao
Paulo. The urban;stic and architectural
experience of
is ano!her lenglhy
chapter of!he greatest importance which
merits a dispassionatte in-depttl study. Less
controversial is !he experience of landscape
architecture, and latin America has provided
!he 20th century wittl two of!he mos! original
talents in lhat tield. Modern Brazilian
architecture would not be what il is wittlout
Burle Marx, who made indispensable
contributions to the Ministry of Education, to
Pampulha and lo /he Parque Ibirapura, and
designed Ihe magnificent Aterro do Flamengo
gardens in Rio and the Parque del Este in
Caracas, amongst many olhers. The quality o(
the Jardines del Pedregal, of the Plaza de las
Torres de Sate/ire and ttle plazas of las
Arboledas suggests !hat /he value of
Barragn's landscape architecture ;s as great
as or even greater ttlan that of his buildings.
2. The predominance 01 Brazilian works reflects
143