Skip to main content
Built Heritage
Download PDF

Volume 2 Supplement 2

20th-Century Heritage: Exploring the New Futures of the Recent Past

Heritage Agencies and the Conservation of Brazilian Modern Masterpieces: A Partial Report

Built Heritage volume 2, pages 35–49 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Heritage agencies have been protecting modern architecture in Brazil since 1948, starting with Oscar Niemeyer’s Pampulha Chapel. So far 75 modern works have been listed mostly because of their artistic value. Listing prevents demolition. Unfortunately, it does not ensure proper conservation, and many interventions have disfigured works of architecture listed as modern masterpieces. Among those tolerated by the Brazilian heritage agencies, an early one is the roofing of the balconies of Oscar Niemeyer’s Ouro Preto Grand Hotel. Among those approved were the construction of theatres diverging from those designed but unexecuted at the time of the listing, and renovations associated with the introduction or updating of air conditioning systems. The former included one by Niemeyer himself, at his Ibirapuera Park complex, and another at Affonso Eduardo Reidy’s Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro. The latter included the Pampulha Dance Hall, two Ibirapuera Park Pavilions, and the Planalto Palace. The paper analyses these retrofits along with the restoration project of Reidy’s Pedregulho Housing Estate, and discusses the connections of the heritage agencies’ stands regarding these interventions with scientism and the traditions of the conservation field. It suggests a bias of the agencies toward affirmation of historical values and celebration of picturesque disorder, and defends the need for their reorientation towards affirmation of the modern compositional logic.

References

  • Artigas, Rosa, ed. 2007. Paulo Mendes da Rocha: Projetos 1999–2006. São Paulo: Cosac Naify.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boito, Camillo. 1884. I Restauratori: conferenza tenuta al’Exposizione di Torino 7 Giugno 1884 [The Restorers: Conference Held at the Turin Exposition June 7th 1884]. Florence: G. Barbèra Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonduki, Nabil, ed. 1999. Affonso Eduardo Reidy. São Paulo: ILBPMBardi; Lisboa: Blau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britto, Alfredo. 2015. Pedregulho: o sonho pioneiro da habitação social no Brasil [Pedregulho: the Pioneering Dream of Social Housing in Brazil]. Rio de Janeiro: Edições de Janeiro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartwright, T.J. 1973. “Problems, Solutions and Strategies: A Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Planning.” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 39 (3): 179–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casa de Lucio Costa. 2018. “Document II.B.03-01468.” Accessed June 6 2018. www.jobim.org/lucio/

  • Chuva, Marcia. 2009. Os arquitetos da memória: sociogênese das práticas de preservação do patrimônio cultural no Brasil (anos 1930–1940) [The Architects of Memory: Socio-Genesis of Practices of Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Brazil (1930–1940)]. Porto Alegre: UFRGS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Jean-Louis. 2004. Le Corbusier 1887–1965: The Lyricism of Architecture in The Machine Age. Bremen: Taschen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comas, Carlos Eduardo, Cecilia R. dos Santos and Ruth Verde Zein. 2008. “Beyond Oscar Niemeyer: Authorities, Remodellings, Paradoxes and Peculiarities in the Preservation of Modern Buildings in Brazil.” In The Challenge of Change: Dealing with the Legacy of the Modern Movement. Proceeding of the Tenth Docomomo International Conference. Delft: Delft University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comas, Carlos Eduardo. 2002. Précisions brésiliennes sur un état passé de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme modernes [Brazilian Precisions on a Past State of Modern Architecture and Urbanism]. Paris: Université Paris 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comas, Carlos Eduardo. 2007. “Rio, Pernambuco, Rio Grande e Minas; contextualismo e heteromorfismo na arquitetura moderna brasileira.” In Arquitetura Moderna no Norte e Nordeste; universalidade e diversidade [Modern Architecture in the North and Northeast; Universality and Diversity], edited by Fernando Diniz Moreira. Recife: CECI/ Unicap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comas, Carlos Eduardo. 2015. “The Poetics of Development.” In Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980, edited by Barry Bergdoll, Carlos Eduardo Comas, Jorge Francisco Liernur and Patricio del Real, 40–67. New York: MoMA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, Lúcio. 1962a. “Considerações sobre o ensino da arquitetura.” [Considerations about Architecture Teaching] In Lúcio Costa: Sobre Arquitetura [Lúcio Costa: About Architecture], 111–117. São Paulo: Empresa das Artes, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, Lúcio. 1962b. “Depoimento de um arquiteto carioca.” [Testimony of A Carioca Architect] In Lúcio Costa: Sobre Arquitetura [Lúcio Costa: About Architecture], 169–201. Porto Alegre: CEUA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, Lucio. 1999. Documentos de trabalho, edited by José Pessoa. Rio de Janeiro: IPHAN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca, Maria Cecilia Londres. 2005. O patrimônio em processo. Trajetória da política federal de preservação no Brasil [The Heritages in the Process. The Trajectory of the Federal Preservation Policy in Brazil]. Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ Editora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, Philip, and Kidder-Smith, G. E. 1943. Brazil Builds. Architecture New and Old. 1652–1942. New York: MoMA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ireland Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. 2011. “Conservation principles; Section 7.3: Keeping a Building in Use; Article 7.3.1.” Chap.7 in Architectural Heritage Protection Guidelines for Planning Authorities. Accessed 6 June 2018. https://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2015/07/Architectural-Heritage-Protection-Guidelines-2011.pdf

  • Kuhl, Beatriz Mugayar. 2006. “Preservação da arquitetura moderna e metodologia de restauro.” [Preservation of Modern Architecture and Restoration Methodology] Pós 19: 199–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marconi, Paolo. 1993. Il restauro e l’architetto. Teoria e pratica in due secoli di debattito [The Restoration and the Architect: Theory and Practice in Two Centuries of Debate]. Venezia: Marsilio Edittori.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mindlin, Henrique. 1956. Modern Architecture in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Colibris Editora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Motta, Lia. 1987. “A SPHAN em Ouro Preto: uma história de conceitos e critérios.” [SPHAN in Ouro Preto: A History of Concepts and Criteria] Revista do IPHAN 22: 108–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papadaki, Stamo. 1956. Oscar Niemeyer: Works in Progress. New York: Reinhold Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perret, Auguste. 1935. “O que é arquitetura.” Arquitetura e urbanismo Nov-Dec: 238–239.

  • Piacentini, Marcelo. 1930. “Dove è irragionevole l’archittettura razionale.” [Where Rational Architecture Is Unreasonable] Dedalo 11 (2): 528–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ronca, Paola, Alberto Franchi, and Antonio Migliacci. 2009. Open Issues for the Conservation of Landmark Modern Architecture: the Case Study of Torre Velasca. In Protection of Historical Buildings PROHITECH 09: Proceedings of the International Conference on Protection of Historical Buildings, edited by Federico M. Mazzolani, 557–562. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ronca, Paola, Pietro Giuseppe Crespi, Alberto Franchi, and Alessandro Zichi. 2009. “Il patrimonio architettonico del moderno: conservazione e durabilita’ per Torre Velasca.” [The Modern Architectural Heritage: Conservation and Durability for Torre Velasca] http://www.cias-italia.it/PDF/58.pdf

  • Rowe, Colin. 1976. “Neoclassicism and Modern Architecture II.” In The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays, 140–158. New Haven: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruskin, John. 1849. The Seven Lamps of Architecture. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Salvo, Simona. 2002. “Il restauro del grattacielo Pirelli: Una questione internazionale, un intervento italiano.” [The Restoration of the Pirelli Skyscraper: An International Question, an Italian Intervention] In Grattacielo Pirelli: indagini sulle fonti documentarie e sulle esperienze internazionali [Pirelli Skyscraper: Surveys on Documentary Sources and International Experiences]. Milano: Assessorato per le Identità, le Culture e le Autonomie della Regione Lombardia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salvo, Simona. 2006. “A restauração do edifício Pirelli: a resposta italiana a uma questão internacional.” [The Restoration of the Pirelli Building: The Italian Answer to an International Question] Pós 19: 201–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salvo, Simona. 2008. “A intervenção na arquitetura contemporânea como tema emergente do restauro.” [The Intervention in Contemporary Architecture as an Emerging Theme of Restoration] Pós 23: 199–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scharlach, Cecilia, ed. 2006. Oscar Niemeyer: a marquise e o projeto original do Parque Ibirapuera [Oscar Niemeyer: The Marquee and the Original Project of the Ibirapuera Park]. São Paulo: Imprensa Oficial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlee, Andrey, ed. 2017a. IPHAN 1937–2017. Special issue. Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional 35.

  • Schlee, Andrey, ed. 2017b. Patrimônio: desafios e perspectivas.” [Heritage: Challenges and Perspectives] Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional 36.

  • SPBR. 2018. “Reforma da Oca.” Accessed May 31 2018. www.spbr.arq.br/portfolio-items/reforma-da-oca/

  • Summerson, John. 1963. “The Mischievous Analogy.” In Heavenly Mansions, 195–218. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène-Emmanuel. 1866. “Restauration.” In Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle. t. VIII. Paris: Bance- Morel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène-Emmanuel. 1875. On Restoration. Translated by Charles Wethered. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low and Searle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zein, Ruth Verde. 2005. “A arquitetura da escola paulista brutalista 1953–73” [The Architecture of the Brutalist Paulista School]. PhD diss., Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Architecture, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Carlos Eduardo Dias Comas

Authors
  1. Carlos Eduardo Dias Comas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlos Eduardo Dias Comas.

Rights and permissions

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dias Comas, C.E. Heritage Agencies and the Conservation of Brazilian Modern Masterpieces: A Partial Report. Built Heritage 2, 35–49 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03545692

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03545692

Keywords