Gustavo Penna's 50-year career collection becomes a literary collection

The golden anniversary of architect Gustavo Penna 's career has been celebrated with a special celebration for lovers of literature and architecture . "Gustavo Penna: 50 Years of Architecture, Design and Words" is a literary collection carefully produced by the publisher KPMO - Culture and Art, which brings together research that summarizes the works of the architect and urban planner from Minas Gerais, from the beginning to the five decades of his career. Minas Gerais is a reference when we talk about our colonial architecture. “Minas Gerais is the jewel of the Americas, because it has the expressiveness of the baroque . This gives the state a differential in relation to other architectural hubs”, says the research coordinator of the Penna collection. , Rosana Parisi , professor of history of modern and contemporary Brazilian architecture at PUC-Poços de Caldas. Gustavo Penna 's work inherits the richness of this architectural scenario , as well as all the expressiveness of Modern Architecture with the presence of Oscar Niemeyer in Belo Horizonte, to, from a personal and gentle gesture, establish a dialogue that has been consolidated over five decades. of work. It was through this entire repertoire that the research work on Penna's collection of works began. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Rosana Parisi and the architect, urban planner and art director Marcello de Oliveira , the search for Penna's 50 years of work It is a watershed in terms of academic research on architecture in Brazil, as it is the first time that the entire work of a professional has been studied for a publication - in this case, the Gustavo Penna 73/23 collection. The meticulous research was carried out in the Penna office collection since 2018, amidst materials such as photographs, sketches, cuts, perspectives, plans, notes, newspaper clippings from the time, references, drawings, among other archived materials from the entire creation process. of each project over that time. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with the architect, with personalities and visits to the sites of his constructed works. This method highlighted the process of formation of the identity and evolution of Gustavo Penna's architectural production over time, from his time as a student to his peak. of maturity and innovation.

KPMO took care to include in the book collection – volume 1 of which was released in 2019 and volumes 2 and 3 will be released in 2022 – projects that, although not built, have technical and artistic value in the architect's career. Such as Escola Brincar, which reveals the trait and playfulness as a proposal for the place where Penna's look at the context of children with special needs was unique. “We were concerned with separating images that illustrated what was written , to create harmony in the book, in addition to considering those materials that make Penna different ,” says Marcello de Oliveira . Rosana also emphasizes that “the intention was to detail the emergence of new materials and innovative construction methods and techniques that emerged in Brazil, which can be identified in Penna’s works. The attention to sustainable issues and the consolidation of the relationship between architecture, urban planning and people, reinforcing its maxim: architecture is a place for people ”. Gustavo Penna: 50 Years of Architecture, Design and Words is a milestone for the architectural record of Brazilian production. This perspective brings an approach very similar to genetic criticism, a style of analysis that appeared in France in the 80s/90s , which shows the writer's construction process . All this work breaks the concept that an architect is known by his finished work. And it also reveals something that no one sees: the evolution of thought and design. “This is extremely valuable for students, for example, as well as for laypeople, it is interesting to know what the initial idea was, what made that place fit that profile”, concludes Marcello de Oliveira.