Architecture as a tool for social transformation. Lina Bo Bardi, Venice Biennale 2021

21/05/2021. 17TH International Architecture Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia 2021. [VEN] Italy 22.05 > 21.11.2021
metalocus, ANNA CLARA BARROS
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As mentioned in our article, the Italian-Brazilian architect, designer, set designer, artist and critic Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), is recognized with the Prize for professional trajectory in memoriam in the next edition of the XVII Biennial of Architecture of Venice, which will open its doors to the public from May 22 to November 21 of this year.

The legacy of the visionary designer and architect embodies the central theme of Biennale Architettura 2021: How will we live together? and it reminds us of the architect's role in seeing the potential in all types of people and engaging with all facets of culture.
Portrait of Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Bob Wolfenson.
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The figure of Lina Bo Bardi was proposed by Hashim Sarkis, current curator of the Biennale Architettura 2021, and approved by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia. The recognition offers a reflection on the work of the Italian-Brazilian architect and how, in her hands, architecture became a true tool for social transformation.

Above all, it is its powerful buildings that stand out in their design and in the way they provide architecture, nature, coexistence, and community. His projects, such as the SESC Pompeia and the Teatro Oficina, value the diversity and creativity of people. Through the participation of the spectator and the citizen, the arts, culture, and society can be transformed.
 
"The freedom of the artist has always been" individual ", but true freedom can only be collective. Conscious freedom of social responsibilities, which can break down the boundaries of aesthetics..."
Lina Bo Bardi

Lina Bo Bardi's architecture is understood as a collective service, free from the limitations of any school of thought. It is modern and ancient architecture at the same time, respectful of tradition, but also innovative. The emblematic building of modern Brazilian architecture, the  Art Museum of Sao Paulo (MASP), is an example of a space in the city of Sao Paulo that establishes a successful relationship between public and private, culture, art and the daily life of citizens.
 
"We hope that the 2021 edition of La Biennale - rather than inflate her popularity as an architectural icon - will help to even better contextualize and communicate the depth of Lina Bo Bardi's critical view of the world: always caring for the least culturally represented, consistently aware of the importance of diversity in art and architecture, and committed to a multidisciplinary approach to architecture bringing together people from all walks of life."
Bardi Institute of São Paulo

The recognition of Lina Bo Bardi will be celebrated on Saturday, May 22, 2021, during the Opening Ceremony of the Biennale Architettura 2021.
Lina Bo Bardi at Dr. Narcisinha's house in São Paulo. Photograph by Pietro M Bardi.
Portrait of Lina Bo Bardi. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro. Lina Bo Bardi at the SESC Pompeia auditorium. Photograph by Lew Parella.
Lina Bo Bardi sitting on the Beira de Estrada chair. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Lina Bo Bardi at the MASP construction site. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Lina Bo Bardi at a work meeting at MASP. Photograph by Fonseca.
MASP by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Hans Gunther Flieg.
Exhibition Mão do Povo Brasileiro in MASP. Photograph by Hans Gunther Flieg.
Drawing of ephemeral structures for the MASP belvedere. Image courtesy of MASP Research Center.
Drawing of Circo Piolim at the MASP belvedere. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Lina Bo Bardi and a glass easel displaying a Van Gogh painting at the MASP construction site. Photograph by Lew Parella.
MASP building at the Paulista Avenue. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
MASP glass easels at the exhibition space. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Lina Bo Bardi sitting on a Bardi's Bowl. Photograph by Francisco Albuquerque.
Plans, section and elevation of the Bardi's Bowl. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Perspective drawing of the Bardi's Bowl. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Casa de Vidro by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Francisco Albuquerque.
Casa de Vidro by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Casa de Vidro interiors by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Aerial view of Igreja Espírito Santo do Cerrado. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Ladeira da Misericórdia by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
SESC Pompeia leisure center. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
SESC Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
SESC Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
SESC Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Sketch of SESC Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Teatro Oficina by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
Floor plan sketch. Teatro Oficina by Lina Bo Bardi. Image courtesy of Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro.
Wooden staircase at Solar do Unhão by Lina Bo Bardi. Photograph by Leonardo Finotti.
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More information

Curator
Hashim Sarkis.
Venue / Adress
Venice (Arsenale and Giardini), Italy.
Dates
From May 22nd to November 21st, 2020.

Lina BO BARDI

Achillina Bo was born on December 5, 1914 in Rome, Italy. Lina was the oldest child of Enrico and Giovana Bo, who later had another daughter named Graziella. In 1939, she graduated from the Rome College of Architecture at the age of 25 with her final piece, "The Maternity and Infancy Care Centre". She then moved to Milan to begin working with architect Carlo Pagani in the Studio Bo e Pagani, No 12, Via Gesù. Bo Bardi collaborated (until 1943) with architect and designer Giò Ponti on the magazine Lo Stile – nella casa e nell’arredamento. In 1942, at the age of 28, she opened her own architectural studio on Via Gesù, but the lack of work during wartime soon led Bardi to take up illustration for newspapers and magazines such as Stile, Grazia, Belleza, Tempo, Vetrina and Illustrazione Italiana. Her office was destroyed by an aerial bombing in 1943. From 1944-5 Bardi was the Deputy Director of Domus magazine.

The event prompted her deeper involvement in the Italian Communist Party. In 1945, Domus commissioned Bo Bardi to travel around Italy with Carlo Pagani and photographer Federico Patellani to document and evaluate the situation of the destroyed country. Bo Bardi, Pagani and Bruno Zevi established the weekly magazine A – Attualità, Architettura, Abitazione, Arte in Milan (A Cultura della Vita).[4] She also collaborated on the daily newspaper Milano Sera, directed by Elio Vittorini. Bo Bardi took part in the First National Meeting for Reconstruction in Milan, alerting people to the indifference of public opinion on the subject, which for her covered both the physical and moral reconstruction of the country.

In 1946, Bo Bardi moved to Rome and married the art critic and journalist Pietro Maria Bardi.

In Brazil, Bo Bardi expanded his ideas influenced by a recent and overflowing culture different from the European situation. Along with her husband, they decided to live in Rio de Janeiro, delighted with the nature of the city and its modernist buildings, like the current Gustavo Capanema Palace, known as the Ministry of Education and Culture, designed by Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Lucio Costa, Roberto Burle Marx and a group of young Brazilian architects. Pietro Bardi was commissioned by a museum from Sao Paulo city where they established their permanent residence.

There they began a collection of Brazilian popular art (its main influence) and his work took on the dimension of the dialogue between the modern and the Popular. Bo Bardi spoke of a space to be built by living people, an unfinished space that would be completed by the popular and everyday use.

Hashim Sarkis

Hashim Sarkis is an architect, educator, and scholar. He is principal of Hashim Sarkis Studios (HSS), established in 1998 with offices in Boston and Beirut. He is also the Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 2015.

Before joining MIT, Sarkis was the Aga Khan Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at Harvard University. He has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Yale University, the American University of Beirut, and the Metropolis Program in Barcelona.

The architectural and urban projects of HSS include affordable housing, houses, parks, institutional buildings, urban design, and town planning. HSS has received several awards for its projects in Lebanon, including for the Housing of the Fishermen of Tyre, Byblos Town Hall, and the Courtower Houses, on the coast of Aamchit. The firm’s work has been exhibited around the world, including at the Pavilion of the United States at Biennale Architettura 2014 and the Pavilion of Albania at Biennale Architettura 2010, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the International Architucture Biennale Rotterdam, the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture of Shenzhen/Hong Kong, and the Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo in Valparaíso. The work has also been published extensively, most recently in a monograph by NESS.docs (New York, Barcelona: Actar, 2017).

Sarkis was member of the international jury of Biennale Architettura 2016.

Sarkis earned a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Architecture and a PhD in Architecture from Harvard University. He is the author and editor of several books and articles on modern architecture history and theory, including Josep Lluis Sert, The Architect of Urban Design (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008); Circa 1958, Lebanon in the Projects and Plans of Constantinos Doxiadis (Beirut: Dar Annahar, 2003); and Le Corbusier's Venice Hospital (Munich: Prestel, 2001).
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