“What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.” Norton Juster, as quoted in Your Brain on Art
Just look at the plan of this house- I would print it out and hang it on a wall. Aided by technology (material in this case) and philosophy, the minimalism expressed in this idea is exceptional. Words flow so easily these days- just a garbage of summarization- the practice of editing in any generation (note multiple applications of the word) will become more and more important to our experiences.
Notes from Gemini:
Because of their leftist political stance and opposition to the Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964, both Artigas and Mendes da Rocha were targeted together. In 1969, the military dictatorship revoked their political rights and forced both of them out of their teaching positions at FAU-USP. They were both finally allowed to return to teaching in 1980 after the political amnesty
Mendes de Rocha was a mentee of Artigas but the monolithic floating concrete upside down u-shaped roof capping the top of this residence was built before Casa Martirani (coming up next) which also shared this in design. I did not know until this trip to extent of this kind of political oppression to this degree besides in China and Germany. I do not think it would have made for such an impression except that getting anything built is hard enough- let alone doing it anti-authoritarian in the name of art. This stand for humanity amongst the others on this trip really stayed with me – it is in this respect that I dedicated the time and effort to making something. I needed to make sure the lesson was learned.
Address: R. Eng. João de Ulhoa Cintra, 26 – Butantã, São Paulo – SP, 05506-020, Brazil
Website: arquitectura viva write up
