This exhibition explored for the first time the relationship between two seminal figures in twentieth-century design. Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992), best known for the buildings she designed and built in Brazil – the House of Glass (1950–51), Museum of Art in Sao Paulo (1957–68), the Sesc Pompeia (1977–86), among others – was a prolific designer, architect, writer and curator, deeply committed to the promotion of the social and cultural potential of architecture. Before adopting Brazil as her home country in the late 1940s, Bo Bardi lived in Milan, where she collaborated with the renowned architect Gio Ponti (1891–1979). Ponti is perhaps better known as the founding editor of the celebrated design magazine Domus. Like Bo Bardi, he was a productive architect, designer, writer and curator, having designed the famous Pirelli Tower in Milan (1950), and collaborated with a number of renowned designers (including Piero Fornasetti, Pier Luigi Nervi) as well as organising many editions of the Milan Triennial exhibition of the decorative arts.
Curated by Ana Araujo, AA tutor and founder of the Travesia Institute, this exhibition will focus on the crossovers between Bo Bardi's and Ponti's approaches to design. It includes drawings, artefacts, film footage and writings covering the work of both architects, as well as a specially commissioned selection of contemporary photographs of Bo Bardi's buildings by Barcelona-based photographer Inigo Bujedo Aguirre.
Sponsored by Embassy of Brazil in London