Lina Bo Bardi’s MASP Sketches

On November 7, 1968, the Paulista Avenue MASP (Sao Paulo Art Museum) was inaugurated. The museum, which had then been based for more than 20 years in the Diários Associados building in downtown Sao Paulo, became part of the city’s identity as well as an icon of culture and architecture for Brazil and the world.

The exhibition Lina Bo Bardi’s MASP sketches: 50 years of the museum at Paulista Avenue celebrates the half a century since MASP’s inauguration and features drawings, sketches, collages and photographs that reveal parts of Lina’s creative process from concept to building, focusing on two main elements that were never constructed: an helicoidal stair and the closed concrete facade.

The exhibition is part of the Acervo Aberto—Open Archive series, started in September 2017 with the goal of making public the lesser known aspects of the life, work and legacy of the architect Lina Bo and her husband Pietro Bardi, co-founder of the MASP, re-connecting their rich universe with the contemporary reality.

“As every architectural project, the built version is an evolution of ideas. The MASP building had many versions before materializing as it is. Lina’s preliminary drawings show the main volume of the museum as a large prism with concrete facades. Similarly, the staircase was thought of as a spiral in the sketches from the 50s,” explains Sol Camacho, cultural director of Instituto Bardi and exhibition curator.

The exhibition is a unique opportunity to know materials from the archive that are rarely available to the public. In addition to the original sketches and drawings, architectural models, photographs and letters related to the project will be on display at Lina’s Glass House, resurfacing documents associated to the conception of one of the most important museums in the world.

Lina Bo Bardi’s MASP Sketches: 50 years of the museum at Paulista Avenue opens from November 1 to 17, 2018 from Thursday to Saturdays at 10am, 11:30am, 2pm and 3:30pm.

Exhibition’s Curator:  Sol Camacho
President of the Board: Sonia Guarita do Amaral
Excecutive Director: Waldick Jatobá

Support: Insper,  AGC Vidros