Saving an "ugly architecture" instead of "preserving" MASP

2013-11-24T15:43:00-05:00

"Personally when I did the project of the Art Museum in São Paulo my basic concern was to make an ugly architecture...A poor architecture with free spaces that could be created by the collective...Most people find that the museum is poor, and it is. I wanted to make a poor project. That is, formally and architecturally ugly, but that would be a usable space, that would be something that could be taken over by men". - Lina Bo Bardi

A recent opinion piece in O Estado de S.Paulo proposed fencing in the wonderful open plaza of Lina Bo Bardi's MASP, as one solution for addressing concerns that the space is becoming a mini cracolândia. This situation it is argued has negatively impacted the MASP and it's cultural prestige.

However, it turns out that back in 1972 (while she was still alive) Lina Bo Bardi preempted such concerns in testimony found in the film Arquitetura, A Transformação do Espaço. Therein she spoke about her building.

a H/t, to Ana María León

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Saving an "ugly architecture" instead of "preserving" MASP