Lina em Casa: Percursos

As part of the different initiatives commemorating the centenary of Lina Bo Bardi, born on December 5, 1914, the Instituto Bardi / Casa de Vidro organized the exhibition that drew a panorama of the life and work of the architect from Italy to Brazil. The Italian period features Lina working in different publications amidst the war and resistance against fascism, her marriage to Pietro Maria Bardi and leaving the country in October, 1946.

In Brazil, together with Pietro and Assis Chateaubriand, Lina embodies the Museu de Arte de São Paulo and the Instituto de Arte Contemporânea, passing through a productive period in Bahia, where she directed the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia, participated in the formation of Cinema Novo and immersed herself in his research on brazilian popular culture.

After the 1964 Military Coup, the architect returns to São Paulo, more reclusive and dedicated to the completion of the new MASP headquarters, and finally her return to the construction sites with the Espírito Santo do Cerrado Church, in Uberlândia, SESC Pompeia, in São Paulo, and projects in the historic center of Salvador.

Based on speeches, texts, drawings, photographs, videos, models and various objects belonging to the archive of the Bardi couple, the curators, Anna Carboncini and Renato Anelli, revisit Lina’s architecture and design works, highlighting exhibition, scenography and clothing projects, and the construction of their conceptions about art, architecture and culture, bringing to light research on popular culture and other interests, travel records and her personal relationships, based on letters and photographs of her daily life.

The content, which occupied all the spaces of the Glass House and also the garden, was gathered in 27 panels, with an exhibition project by the architect Marina Correia, who created tubular structures of different formats, inspired by Lina’s furniture, seeking to integrate them into the space with minimal visual interference, in addition to allowing flexible placement of modules in space and also future uses.

With the purpose of expanding the exhibition’s themes, the Institute organized a series of four lectures, called Lina em Casa: Percursos, involving the themes: “Conversation with the Curators”, “Lina Bo Bardi: history and stories”, “Modern Houses: Preservation, Restoration, Visitation” and “Lina e Artigas”, which brought together curators, experts and guests.