Mario Pedrosa and modern brazilian architecture: criticism and contributions

Crítica e contribuições

Abstract

The present wording is the result of discussions about the trajectory of Mário Pedrosa (1900-1981), one of the main art critics (national and international) of the 20th century and also a character of great importance for the historiography of Brazilian modern art. The scope of his knowledge, understanding, and interpretation of modern art also enabled a broad understanding of Brazilian modern architecture that developed in the 20th century. In this way, the objective is to analyze Mário Pedrosa's critical discourse on modern Brazilian architecture, identifying basic elements of his perception and mobilizing them in an analysis directed at a specific object, which in the case of this work refers to the building of the Bank of Brazil Office,  located in the city of Juiz de Fora/MG and designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer, who became one of the icons of modern Brazilian architecture, also achieving international prestige. The study begins with a bibliographic review of Mário Pedrosa's texts on architecture, the analysis of the object, and the confrontation of the results. It was not intended to exhaust the subject, but to formulate some important questions that can be developed in future research.