Lina Bo Bardi: The Architect Who Loved Freedom
Lina Bo Bardi, originally named Achillina Bo and born in Rome in 1914, completed her architecture degree at the University of Rome in 1939, where her thesis on housing for unmarried mothers surprised committee president Marcello Piacentini. She collaborated with Gio Ponti in Milan and co-founded A-Cultura della vita. In 1945, she wed Pietro Maria Bardi, a former fascist journalist, and relocated to Brazil in 1946. Among her significant projects are Casa de Vidro (1950-51), the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP, 1957-1968), and SECS-Pompéia (1977-86). Bo Bardi taught at the University of São Paulo (1955-57) and the University of Salvador da Bahia (1958) but was not granted a professorship. She passed away in 1992.
Key facts
- Lina Bo Bardi graduated in architecture from the University of Rome in 1939.
- She worked with Gio Ponti on the magazine Stile.
- She co-founded the weekly A-Cultura della vita with Carlo Pagani and Bruno Zevi.
- She married Pietro Maria Bardi in 1945 and moved to Brazil in 1946.
- Pietro Maria Bardi was a former fascist who organized the 1931 Second Exhibition of Rational Architecture.
- Her Casa de Vidro was built in São Paulo between 1950 and 1951.
- The São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) was designed between 1957 and 1968.
- The SECS-Pompéia social center was renovated between 1977 and 1986.
Entities
Artists
- Lina Bo Bardi
- Pietro Maria Bardi
- Gio Ponti
- Carlo Pagani
- Bruno Zevi
- Massimo Bontempelli
- Giuseppe Terragni
- Mario Radice
- Virgilio Ghiringhelli
- Marcello Piacentini
- Armando Brasini
- Cesare Bazzani
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
- Philip Johnson
- Charles Eames
- Ray Eames
- Johannes Duiker
- Pierre Chareau
- John Cage
- Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi
- Fabrizio Brunetti
- Mazzocchi
Institutions
- University of Rome
- University of São Paulo
- University of Salvador da Bahia
- MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo)
- SECS-Pompéia
- Quadrante
- Stile
- Domus
- A-Cultura della vita
- Habitat
- Tempo
- L'Illustrazione Italiana
- Grazia
- Artribune
- presS/Tletter
- Compasses
- Edilizia e territorio
- The Plan
- A10
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Milan
- Brazil
- São Paulo
- Salvador da Bahia
- Paris
- France