Roberto Segre, 1934-2013. A Life of Adventure that Ends with a Banal Tragedy

Abstract
Born in 1934 in Milan, Roberto Segre migrated to Argentina with his family in 1939, fleeing the anti–Semitism of Benito Mussolini’s fascist government. He graduated as an architect at the University of Buenos Aires in 1960 and soon after, in 1963, settled in La Havana, Cuba, where he taught history of architecture for three decades. In 1994, he began his career as a Brazilian researcher and professor on graduate courses in urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where he served until March 2013. During these decades of professional activity, he came to be respected as a critic and historian, publishing many books and articles of the utmost importance on Latin American architecture.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Roberto Segre.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 93
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.I0E84O9Q

PDF (English)
Clorindo Testa, 1923-2013

Abstract
It is with regret and sadness that docomomo Argentina informs the international docomomo community that architect Clorindo Testa passed away on April 11 2013. Testa was an architect and urban planner but also a painter whose artistic sensitivity has been always present in the way he conceived architecture.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Clorindo Testa, Argentinian modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 92
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.2HAXYCG9

PDF (English)
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, 1919-2013. Requiem for Pedro

Abstract
The news of his death was instantly dispersed, displacing all other issues of national or international interest. When I read the message that Louise Noelle sent to all docomomo Mexico members, I accepted it as a plain and sad confirmation of what had happened: “Dear colleagues, this tragic note is to inform about the death of architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez today, April 16. He was one of the most prominent architects of the Modern Movement and his work has been part of our writings”.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 91-92
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.2LBJMDZ6

PDF (English)
Oscar Niemeyer, 1907-2012

Abstract
Modern master Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012) was the most important Brazilian architect. Graduated in the Escola Nacional de Belas–Artes in 1934, he soon became world–known for his role, together with Lúcio Costa (1902–1998), with the design of the Brazilian Ministry of Education (1937) in Rio de Janeiro; or for their Brazilian Pavillion in New York World Fair in 1939. His solo work in the Pampulha buildings was immediately published in the catalogue of the “Brazil Builds” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 90
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.29JBINRT

PDF (English)
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Transition

Abstract
Many 20th century sports facilities are in need of upgrading according to present standards and the 1938 (1952) Olympic Stadium of Helsinki is no exception to the rule. The international sports federations increase their requirements and security issues become more prominent by the year. Finland’s largest stadium is mainly used in summer for soccer matches, athletics, rock concerts and other events, and additional usage throughout the year would be welcome in order to strengthen the venue’s financial position and to pay for the extensive maintenance and renovations. At the same time the stadium is a popular historic site that plays an important role in the collective memory of the Finns and needs to retain its character as cultural heritage. Many delegates have visited this outstanding example of Modern Movement Heritage during the last docomomo International Conference that took place in Helsinki last August. Now, the building needs to be improved.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Conservation of modern architecture , Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Yrjö Lindegren, Toivo Jäntti, Finnish modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 88-89
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.D0ALSAU8

PDF (English)
Local and Global Modern Thinking. Designing with Climate in Mozambique: School Buildings Production

Abstract
The novelty of modern architecture in the former Portuguese African colonies derives from the fact that the ideology of the Modern Movement was interpreted locally. This built heritage is represented in terms of its responsiveness to the physical environment in which it operates, by means of Design with Climate–A Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism (Olgyay, 1963). Combining tradition and innovation, this approach sought to address the specific socio–cultural context within which modern architecture was conceived (Kultermann, 1969). With the purpose of contributing to the documentation and conservation of modern heritage in Africa, interpreted in the light of these assumptions (Quintã, 2007), this paper addresses a particular architectural program – school buildings – widely developed and built in Mozambique, between 1955 and 1975, the year of independence for the former Portuguese colonies. Initially led by architect Fernando Mesquita, as part of the Public Works Services of the Province of Mozambique, it was reconfigured and evolved through various levels of education, ranging from primary to high schools. Extensively built in urban and rural territory, and even gathering later contributions from other authors, the built output of this program remains a prominent feature in the Mozambican territory.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Tropical architecture, Design with climate, African modern architecture, Fernando Mesquita, Modern schools, Mozambican modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 83-87
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.TS2FVWD2

PDF (English)
De-Tropicalizing Africa: Architecture, Planning and Climate in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract
In the mid–1950s, British architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew were among the leading figures behind the institutionalization of the Tropical Architecture field, contributing to the proliferation of publications, international conferences and establishment of academic centers. During the same time, the global shortage of housing and United Nations’ development agendas for the “third world” brought a shift in planning priorities. Focusing in that particular moment, the paper traces the efforts for the de–tropicalization of Africa and planning practice alike, through the research activities of the Athens–based firm Doxiadis Associates and the writings and visions of Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Tropical architecture, Design with climate, African modern architecture, Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, Constantinos Doxiadis, Urban development.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 76-82
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.5QVA2FOS

PDF (English)
Otto Koenigsberger and the Course on Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association, London. Some Notes on the Portuguese Context

Abstract
Otto Koenigsberger is considered a pioneer in researching specific models and technical solutions for architecture and planning in the tropics. Educated within the core of the European Modern Movement, under the mentorship of Hans Poelzig, Bruno Taut and Ernst May, Koenigsberger moves away from the ideal and expressionist realm to the real and specific context whilst working in India. This non–western experience triggers an interest in developing countries, mainly tropical ones. In 1954, Koenigsberger conceives a new course on Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association in London, followed by a great number of architects, such as the Portuguese Luís Possolo, António Seabra and Schiappa de Campos, who would apply their learning in the countries of “Portuguese Africa”, as it was formerly known.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Tropical architecture, Design with climate, African modern architecture, Otto Koenigsberger, Tropical architecture teaching.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 70-75
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.859CKS27

PDF (English)
Other Modernisms: Recording Diversity and Communicating History in Urban West Africa

Abstract
Seminal publications on West African Architecture such as Kulterman’s New Architecture in Africa and the Architectural Review’s New Commonwealth Architecture came to define the African Modern Movement as it was understood internationally. This paper explores the specific context within which this new architecture developed and the actors that helped to shape it. Vaughan–Richards’ Ola–Oluwakitan House and Cubitt’s Elder Dempster Offices are analyzed in terms of their engagement with the socio-cultural context in which they were conceived, the site-specific Modernity of the former contrasting the corporate International Style response of the latter.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Tropical architecture, Design with climate, African modern architecture, Alan Vaughan-Richards, Ola–Oluwakitan Cottage, James Cubitt, Elder Dempster Offices, Nigerian modern architecture.

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 62-69
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.8ZFOUFGC

PDF (English)
Aiton Court: Relocating Conservation between Poverty and Modern Idealism

Abstract
Aiton Court, in Johannesburg, is a case study in how heritage and economics clash in economically constrained cities. This iconic and formally innovative Modern apartment block from 1937 is located in an area where the income levels of tenants are now very low. Although the building is protected by legislation, the viability of its restoration is being further tested by a rent boycott. The article covers the building’s history, and questions how to approach its conservation differently, given the strong demand for housing at a cost level that would be excluded by purely market–led gentrification. We propose that locating conservation strategies in relation to the building’s history and to other subsidies aimed at the public good may provide other routes to preserving Aiton Court.

Keywords
Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Tropical architecture, Design with climate, African modern architecture, Aiton Court, Angus Stewart, Bernard Cooke, Modern housing, Johannesburg modern architecture, Rehabilitation of modern architecture .

Issue 48
Year 2013
Pages 56-61
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/48.A.85503AAS

PDF (English)