Lina Bo Bardi Exhibition Comes to Miami; Exhibition – May 13 – July 29
The Miami Center for Architecture & Design is pleased to present Lina Bo Bardi: Together, a contemporary exhibition that pays tribute to the legacy of 20th century Italian-Brazilian architect, Lina Bo Bardi. Works by three artists, Madelon Vriesendorp, filmmaker Tapio Snellman and photographer Ioana Marinescu, comment on the lasting social impact of Bo Bardiâs works in the context of todayâs Brazil. The exhibition is curated by Noemi Blager and designed by Turner Prize-winning architecture and design collective Assemble.
Lina Bo Bardi was born in Rome in 1914 and moved to SĂŁo Paulo in 1946 where her career took shape. Her diverse body of work, including architecture, furniture, theater and jewelry design, editorial, curatorial and critical output makes her one of the most interesting 20th century creatives.
Spanning the first floor of MCAD, Lina Bo Bardi: Together draws attention to Bo Bardiâs designsâ lasting impact, by focusing on some of her notable works, including: Solar do UnhĂŁo (1959), a craft center and design school in Salvador de Bahia, which was created mixing modern techniques with traditional craft and materials; SESC PompĂ©ia (1982), a recreational center built inside an old factory in SĂŁo Paulo; and The Glass House (1951), which Bo Bardi designed as a private residence for her and her husband.
Madelon Vriesendorpâs installations represent a culmination of objects, found and created, that are meant to reflect the spirit of Bo Bardiâs curiosity about the Bahian culture and society. The artist held community workshops at Solar de UnhĂŁo that later resulted in the production of a large body of folkloric figures and craft. Snellmanâs video pieces depict the vibrant life in and around SESC PompĂ©ia. Ioana Marinescu gives us an intimate portrait of Lina Bo Bardiâs home, The Glass House, with her world of objects that moved her that she collected throughout her lifetime.
The exhibition is sponsored by Italian design company Arper, with additional support from the Miami Design District, The Twenty Two Group and Luminaire. To celebrate the exhibition, an inauguration cocktail event took place on Thursday, May 12th. The exhibition will run through July 29, open Monday through Friday, 10am to 5pm. For more information, please visit miamicad.org.
Bardiâs Bowl Chair
The second floor of MCAD will house a presentation of the Bowl Chair, originally designed by Bo Bardi in 1951 and never produced in her lifetime. Only a black leather prototype had been created by Bo Bardi, which is currently housed in the Casa de Vidro in SaĂ” Paolo. Based on this unique prototype, Arper, in partnership with Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi, created a limited edition of 500 pieces that includes a black leather edition and a fabric version available in 7 different colors.
The Bowl Chair is part of the touring âLina Bo Bardi: Togetherâ exhibition, and has been on display across the globe at institutions including the Pavillon de LâArsenal in Paris, The British Council Gallery in London, La Triennale Design Museum in Milan, DAZ in Berlin, ARCAM in Amsterdam and ARKDES in Stockholm. Proceeds of the limited edition will go toward supporting the traveling exhibition Lina Bo Bardi: Together and the Instituto.
PARTICIPANT BIOS
NOEMI BLAGER is an architect and curator from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who is now based in London. She is former acting director of the Architecture Foundation in London and member of the Design Museum curatorial committee. Blager is advisor of the Lina Bo Bardi Fellowship, a project initiated by the British Council to create longâterm connections between British and Brazilian artists, designers, and architects. In 2003, Blager collaborated with OMA on the exhibition Content, presented in Germany and the Netherlands. She is the culture and development consultant at the Italian design company Arper. She has been a guest lecturer at the Institut fĂŒr Kunst und Architektur, Vienna; Kingston College, London; and ESADE, Barcelona; as well as tutor of architectural design at the University of Buenos Aires.
MADELON VRIESENDORP co-founded the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with Rem Koolhaas and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. Her paintings have been used for numerous book and magazine covers, notably Delirious New York (1978) by Rem Koolhaas. Her work has been exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery (London), Guggenheim Museum and Max Protetch galleries (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Aedes Gallery (Berlin), Gallery Ma (Tokyo), Architectural Association (London), and the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale. Vriesendorpâs work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Canadian Center for Architecture, and Frac Lorraine, France. Since the mid–â1980s, she taught art and design at the Architectural Association, London, and Edinburgh School of Art.
TAPIO SNELLMAN is a filmmaker, artist, and architect engaged in architectural and urban discourse. His work includes film installations, commercial moving images, experimental 3D animation, and site–â specific projections for museums, theater, and dance. He has had long-term collaborations with creators, such as Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid, OMA, David Adjaye, and Sasha Waltz on film, animation, and performance projects. Snellman received degrees in Architecture and City Planning from the University of North London and UniversitĂ€t Stuttgart, and currently holds a lecturing position at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. His films and installations have been exhibited at numerous venues, including The Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate Modern, The Hayward Gallery, and The Design Museum, London; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; and at several iterations of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
IOANA MARINESCU is a London-based artist working with photography. She studied architecture in Romania and the UK before turning to photography. Her work has been shown at the Architectural Association and RIBA, London; the CitĂ© du patrimoine et de lâarchitecture, Paris; the Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna; and the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. Marinescu teaches architecture at Kingston University in London and runs regular workshops and lectures on photography and architecture. Her PhD at the Slade School of Fine Art is concerned with the relationship between cities and memory.
ASSEMBLE is a young, architecture and design practice based in London. Founded by a collective of 18 members, its work covers a broad range of disciplines, mediums and interests. Through a collaborative working practice Assemble explores design ideas, testing unexpected and imaginative uses of materials and construction. Previous projects range from an experimental theatre space to affordable housing development. Assemble has exhibited internationally, and numerous awards include the Bauwelt international architecture prize (2013) and the New London Architecture Awards (2012). The setting for this exhibition has been designed by Assemble to be a re-enactment of the experience of Lin Bo Bardiâs work.
ARPER is a furniture design company based in Treviso, Italy, and is the main sponsor of Lina Bo Bardi: Together. Arper has produced a limited edition of 500 pieces of the Bowl Chair to support the Instituto and to finance the exhibition tour. For more information, please visit www.arper.com.
INSTITUTO LINA BO E P.M. BARDI in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil, is open to the public and holds the archives of Lina Bo Bardi and Pietro Maria Bardi.
MIAMI CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN is an institution dedicated to Miamiâs design community and the built environment, with a community meeting space and educational programs to enhance public appreciation for architecture and design. MCAD is home to AIA Miami as well as the Downtown Miami Welcome Center, in partnership with the Miami Downtown Development Authority. For more information, please visit miamicad.org
