Two tribute exhibitions to Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Succeeding the donation of Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s collection, Casa da Arquitectura - Portuguese Centre for Architecture announces the organization of two simultaneous exhibitions on the work of the Brazilian Pritzker prizewinner, which will open in May 2023 and will be complemented with an ambitious programme of activities in six countries. 

For this great tribute to architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Casa da Arquitectura (CA) brought together an international team of curators with personalities such as the President of CAU/SP architect Catherine Otondo; Pritzker Prize Eduardo Souto de Moura; architect, historian and curator Jean-Louis Cohen; Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s former collaborator, the architect Marta Moreira; Casa da Arquitectura’s Executive Director Nuno Sampaio, architect Ricardo Bak Gordon, and engineer Rui Furtado, a team that worked with Paulo Mendes da Rocha in the project for the National Coach Museum; and the architect, historian and curator Vanessa Grossman.

The exhibitions will occupy CA’s exhibition spaces, the Exhibition Hall and the Casa Gallery. The largest exhibition, at the Exhibition Hall, will be curated by Jean-Louis Cohen and Vanessa Grossman. The exhibition project will be authored by Eduardo Souto de Moura.

This will be a great retrospective exhibition of the work of architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, from a reading of the collection donated to Casa da Arquitectura—which includes all the material produced during his long professional life, from the 1950s of the last century to the present day—and it will remain open until October 2023. 

Simultaneously, at the Casa Gallery, there will be an exhibition curated by architect Marta Moreira and engineer Rui Furtado, with an exhibition project by Ricardo Bak Gordon. 

Along with these two exhibitions, there will be a programme of activities curated by architect Nuno Sampaio, General Commissioner of CA, together with architect Catherine Otondo, responsible for organizing the Paulo Mendes da Rocha collection, that arrived at CA in September 2020. This wide-ranging parallel programme will include debates, conferences, site visits and is intended to be held for five months in six different countries: Portugal, Brazil, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America and Japan, and will turn out to be a great celebration of architecture and of the work and person of Paulo Mendes da Rocha. 

The winner of the 2006 Pritzker Prize, the first honorary member of Casa da Arquitectura in September 2018, and most recently awarded with the gold medal at the UIA Congress – International Union of Architects, Paulo Mendes da Rocha passed away on May 23. 

“This will be a great accomplishment of Casa da Arquitectura to celebrate the person and universal work of Paulo Mendes da Rocha, his ethical, aesthetic and technical principles throughout the world and will make these exhibitions in Matosinhos a must-visit for those who like architecture and, in particular, the work of Paulo Mendes da Rocha,” highlights Nuno Sampaio.

Casa da Arquitectura is currently establishing partnerships with several entities around the world to pursue this ambitious plan of activities.