Mendes da Rocha

Paulo Mendes da Rocha was a Brazilian architect.
Mendes da Rocha attended the Mackenzie Presbyterian University College of Architecture, graduating in 1954. Working almost exclusively in Brazil, Mendes da Rocha began designing buildings in 1957, many of them built in concrete, a method some call "Brazilian Brutalism", arguably allowing buildings to be constructed cheaply and quickly. He contributed many notable cultural buildings to São Paulo and is widely credited with having enhanced and revitalized the city.
He was a professor at the Architecture College of University of São Paulo, known as FAU-USP, until 1998. His work was influenced by Brazilian architect Vilanova Artigas, from the paulist Brazilian School. He was honoured with the Mies van der Rohe Prize (2000), the Pritzker Prize (2006), and the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for lifetime achievement (2016).
Most of Mendes da Rocha's work is in his native Brazil, but the architect gained international recognition during his career and won a host of awards.
A recipient of both the Pritzker Architecture Prize and RIBA Gold Medal, Mendes da Rocha was regarded as one of the major architects of his time.
The Brazilian architect's most famous buildings are in São Paulo. Known for his work with raw concrete, Mendes da Rocha is considered to have modernised Brazil's landscape from the 1950s onwards.
Born: October 25, 1928 Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
Died: May 23, 2021 (aged 92) São Paulo, Brazil
Alma mater: Mackenzie Presbyterian University
Occupation: Architect
Awards: Pritzker Architecture Prize
Buildings:
Serra Dourada Stadium, Gymnasium in the Paulistano Athletics Club, Pinacoteca do Estado, National Coach Museum
Career:
Mendes da Rocha moved to São Paulo as a child with his mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants, and his father, a Brazilian engineer. After completing a degree in architecture (1954) at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, Mendes da Rocha began a career in that city.
From the start he was associated with the architectural cutting edge, and in 1958 his designs for the Club Athletico Paulistano, the first of his many prizewinning structures, gave evidence of his daring and original vision.
He won the competition for the Jockey Club in Goiâna in 1963 and in 1969 was selected (with Flavio Motta, Julio Katinsky, and Ruy Ohtake) to build the Brazilian Pavilion for Expo 1970 in Ōsaka. It was his first international building, and many others followed, including in 2004 a project in Spain to enlarge and reorganize the campus of the University of Vigo.
Mendes da Rocha continued to construct most of his work in São Paulo. One of his most significant designs in the city was the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (1995), and he counted houses, high-rise apartment buildings, stadiums, schools, social clubs, offices, clinics, bus terminals, libraries, and a reservoir among his structures.
He also designed furniture, such as the Paulistano chair (1957); opera sets for Suor Angelica (1990) and The 500-Year Opera (1992); and architectural exhibitions (1997 and 1998).
As he expanded his portfolio, Mendes da Rocha developed his own distinctive vocabulary. Employing a style that became known as Paulist Brutalism, he used great expanses of concrete in his buildings, managing to create a sense of monumentality without massiveness, Modernism without alienation.
Design philosophy:
In his own words, his definition of architecture is “…the transformation of nature, a total fusion of science, art and technology in a sublime statement of human dignity and intelligence through the settlements we build for ourselves…”
Awards:
1998 ‘Professional Trajectory Prize’ at the Ibero-American Biennial
2001 ‘Mies van der Rohe Award for Latin American architecture’
2006 Pritzker Prize
2016 Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in architecture at the Venice Biennale
2016 Præmium Imperiale for Architecture
2017 Royal Gold Medal from RIBA
Notable Works:
1957 Gymnasium in the Paulistano Athletics Club São Paulo, Brazil
1957 Paulistano Armchair (reissued in 2004 by Objekto)
1964 The Guaimbê Residential Building São Paulo, Brazil
1969 Brazil's pavilion at Expo '70 Osaka, Japan
1973 Serra Dourada Stadium Goiânia, Brazil
1987 Saint Peter Chapel São Paulo, Brazil
1987 Forma Furniture showroom São Paulo, Brazil
1988 Brazilian Sculpture Museum São Paulo, Brazil
1992 Patriarch Plaza and Viaduct do Chá São Paulo, Brazil
1993 Pinacoteca do Estado São Paulo, Brazil
1997 FIESP Cultural Centre São Paulo, Brazil
2002 Patriarch Plaza São Paulo, Brazil
2015 National Coaches Museum Lisbon, Portugal
2017 Quelhas House Lisbon, Portugal
2017 SESC 24 de Maio São Paulo, Brazil
Quotes:
“For me, architecture is less the expression of state power; it is a human desire, tied to the mind of the human race.”