Docomomo International was informed by Docomomo São Paulo Nucleus that the architect, urban planner and professor Flávio Villaça died at the age of 91, on the 29th March, 2021. Docomomo International wishes to convey the most sincere condolences at the passing of this great architect to his family and friends.

Flávio Villaça was a fundamental reference to the analysis of the production of urban spaces, he leaves an immeasurable legacy, in his performance as a professor at FAU USP, at the Municipal Planning Secretariat of São Paulo and as a consultant in urban planning in several public agencies.

Flávio Villaça graduated in Urbanism and Architecture from the University of São Paulo in 1953, Villaça received a master’s degree in City Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology (in 1958) and a doctorate in Geography (Physical Geography) from USP in 1929.
His theoretical production, among which stand out O que todo cidadão precisa saber sobre habitação (1986) [What every citizen needs to know about housing], Espaço intra-urbano no Brasil (1998) [Intra-urban space in Brazil], As ilusões do Plano Diretor (2005) [The illusions of the Master Plan] and Reflexões sobre as cidades brasileiras (2012) [Reflections on Brazilian cities], constitute a mandatory reference for those who want to understand the socio-urban segregation, a perverse characteristic of our urbanization. Always willing to dialogue with colleagues and students, his lectures were real events of engagement in favor of the social commitment that should move urban planners.

Villaça provided a different look at Brazilian cities, which will be kept alive, in view of the conditions of urban production, with his perspectives, but also inequalities and segregations.