CHANGES OF LINA BO BARDI’S RATIONALISM IN BRAZIL

Abstract

After moving to Brazil from Italy in 1946, Lina Bo Bardi questioned rationalism and became interested in modern Brazilian architecture and organic architecture. However, her encounter with avant-garde theater and popular art in Salvador, led her to reevaluate the essence of rationalism: humanism and life-based simplicity. She demonstrated the value of rationalism with her masterpiece São Paulo Museum of Art, 1968, which was conceived with a drastically simple spatial organization and raw, rustic materials, as a new synthesis of her thoughts and experiences, including her interest in rural architecture in her early career in Italy.