Sensitive skins. The Church of the Holy Spirit: an interpretation that pays homage to Lina Bo Bardi’s good work and to Iñaki Ábalos’ sound thinking
No. 20 (2017-01-01)Author(s)
-
Elena Pérez Guembe
Abstract
“There are other complete ways of thinking and living […] that involve rather different project techniques, which undoubtedly result in spaces […] that deviate, to a greater or lesser extent, from those that still have prestige among many professionals”.1 Using Iñaki Àbalos’ reflections in The Good Life as a framework for analysis, this essay, which has a narrative bent, tries both in form and content to free Lina Bo Bardi’s Church of the Holy Spirit (1976-1982, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil) from superficial interpretations that hinder its understanding and scope, saving it from possible perspectives that have been conditioned by archetypal materializations inherited from modernity.2
This phenomenological and mestizo architecture, which is an expression of Brazilian idiosyncrasy, is also a declaration of the feasibility of social housing as Bo Bardi spent nearly twenty years fighting for this cause when she completed the project. It is there for whoever wants to hear, see, or believe: it is a testimony of the impossible being made possible.
References
Ábalos, Iñaki. La buena vida. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2000.
Bo Bardi, Lina. Igreja Espírito Santo do Cerrado. Lisboa: Blau, 1999.
De Sica, Vittorio. Miracolo a Milano [película], 1951.
Ferraz, Marcelo. “Clássicos da arquitetura: Casa Valéria Cirell/Lina Bo Bardi”. ArchDaily (5 de diciembre 2016), http://www.archdaily.com.br/br/800798/classicos-da-arquitetura-casa-valeriacirell-lina-bo-bardi
Gallo, Antonella, ed. Lina Bo Bardi architetto: catalogo de la Mostra. Venecia: Marsilio Editori, 2004.
Gattai, Zélia. La casa do río Vermelho. Río de Janeiro: Record, 1999.
Gramsci, Antonio.Quaderni del carcere, vol. 2. Turín: Giulio Einaudi, 1975.
Guedes, Joaquim. “Lembrança de Lina Bo Bardi”. Revista Caramelo, n.º 4 (1992).
Instituto Lina Bo e P. M. Bardi. Lina Bo Bardi. São Paulo: Instituto Lina Bo e P. M. Bardi, 1993.
“Lina Bo Bardi: The Last Lesson (entrevista)”. Domus, n.º 753 (1993).