False Narrative
| Brazilian Pavilion Study |
RISD, Fall 2022
This is the Brazilian Pavilion of the 1970 Osaka Expo by Paulo Mendes da Rocha.
We know this pavilion as a brutalist marvel, performing a rhythm of curves and pyramid coeffers, emerging from the landscape— bridging the border between the natural geography and the manmade. The pavilion’s participation in the Osaka Expo is a worldwide display of economic prosperity and social innovation, demonstrated by its concrete mass floating upon softly-arched walls. This was a statement of Brazil pushing towards the future.
However, this is a False Narrative.
The reality is… This visage of Brazilian glory is built upon the suffering and displacement of millions of citizens. In 1964, a military dictatorship took control of the Brazilian government by coup and stripped civilian rights, including da Rocha’srigt to practice freely. With the vision of a futurist egalitarian society, the dictatorship forced citizens off their land and into periphery settlements, making way for their utopian architecture and city.
So, this pavilion is seen as an application of futurist Brazilian propaganda— elegant curves, resolution with landscape, concrete and steel technology. But this pavilion also tells the truth. The matrix of coeffers are in confinement by the concrete beams, trapped between the curved facades. As each coeffer opening reaches towards the sky, the pyramid form, concrete massing, and landscape prevent the spatial movement of most while permitting only a few to ascent. This represents the Brazilian hierarchy, in which the few economic and military notables reap their status from the collective suffering of 85 million Brazilians. This pavilion tests the agendas of Brazilian propaganda and the reality of dictatorship.