The exhibition “Duas Casas de Paulo Mendes da Rocha” addresses Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s sense of dwelling through a lesser known part of his work, the single-family dwellings. It opened simultaneously with the exhibition “Infinito Vão – 90 Anos de Arquitetura Brasileira.”.
The two single-family houses – Casa Gerassi in São Paulo and Casa Quelhas, in Lisbon, designed in partnership with Inês Lobo – are presented to the public through three visual approaches: the scale models of each one, which were commissioned expressly for the exhibition; the photos by Leonardo Finotti; and the audio-visual record of both the construction of the houses and their interiors.
Designed and built 30 years apart, Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s ‘Duas Casas’ are an invitation to visit the usually reserved circle of family dwellings and to discover how the Brazilian architect “values the meeting, sharing and socialisation of the family”, according to curator Nuno Sampaio.
Casa da Arquitectura – Centro Português de Arquitectura has decided to dedicate special attention to Brazilian architecture in its program, specifically to the production of the last 90 years, from 1928 to 2018. When talking about Brazilian architecture, it is essential and unavoidable to mention Paulo Mendes da Rocha and his production as one of the most prestigious and internationally recognised. His work has become global, not because it is spread around the world, but because it is a “universal” work, a “common place” of respected architecture, a singular reference.
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Curators
Guilherme Wisnik
Guilherme Wisnik (1972) is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo under the RDIDP (Full-time regime of dedication to teaching and research) regime. He edited volume 54 of the Spanish magazine 2G (2010) on the work of Vilanova Artigas, and has published essays in books such as Brazil’s Modern Architecture (Phaidon, 2004), Álvaro Siza modern redux (Hatje Cantz, 2008) and The desire of form (Berlin Akademie der Künste, 2010). He was the General Curator of the 10th São Paulo Architecture Biennale (2013).
Fernando Serapião
Fernando Serapião (1971) is founder and editor of Monolito, published in São Paulo since 2011 and awarded by the 10th Iberoamerican Biennale of Architecture (2016). He has written over a dozen books, such as Guia de Arquitetura de São Paulo (Viana & Mosley Editora, 2005), which received the 7th Young Architects Award (Museu da Casa Brasileira/Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil/São Paulo), and A arquitetura de Croce, Aflalo & Gasperini (Editora Paralaxe, 2011), winner of the Jabuti award. He was responsible for the curatorships of the exhibitions “Nove Novos”, at the Frankfurt Museum of Architecture, and “10+10”, in Vienna, at the Architekturzentrum Wien.
Nuno Sampaio
Executive Director of Casa da Arquitectura since 2014, Nuno Sampaio was a member of the National Board of Directors of the Association of Architects from 2008 to 2010 and a jury in several architectural competitions where the FAD 2013 Awards stand out. He was also Vice-president of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale Association from 2010 to 2021.