Prepared by the
New York Times , a list published this Monday (02) elects the
25 most important architectural works built after the Second World War . Among them is the iconic
Sesc Pompeia building, designed by the Italian-Brazilian architect
Lina Bo Bardi. in São Paulo, one of the great exponents of modernism in Brazil, who left a
legacy full of architectural landmarks in the capital of São Paulo ; among them, the São Paulo Museum of Art (Masp) and the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) .
The building occupies 18th position on the list, alongside other great names in world architecture, such as
Mies van der Rohe ,
Luis Barragán and
Alvar Aalto . As selection criteria, the three architects who drew up the list, Toshiko Mori, Annabelle Selldorf and Vincent Van Duysen; the designer Tom Dixon; the artist and set designer Es Devlin; the critic Nikil Saval; and the journalists Tom Delavan, Kurt Soller and Michael Snyder; each of them selected the
10 most relevant projects made in the last eight decades anywhere in the world . After that, the group filtered the works that appeared repeatedly in the selection, thus arriving at the final form of the list.
The selection showed special interest in the modernists – Lina, for example, received three preliminary votes, resulting in her invariably being included in the final list. In addition,
Mies van der Rohe 's Farnsworth House (1951; Illinois) and
Louis Kahn (1965; La Jolla, California) were also arguably included on the shortlist.
"Given the difficulties that beset our current moment, it is not surprising that
architecture's social concerns —the need to provide housing, for example, or to create useful civic and academic structures; the idea that beautiful cities and communities should not be built only for and by the rich; the
urgency of sustainability , environmentalism and more careful materiality – were on everyone's mind", write journalists
Kurt Soller and
Michael Snyder about the selection process.
Sesc Pompeia was designed between 1977 and 1986 by Lina Bo Bardi to
revitalize an old drum factory , making way for a cultural center. A true work of art, the architectural work is charming, with its organic lines, the simplicity of the concrete and exposed bricks, which make the building a
modern landmark in the capital of São Paulo . A pioneer in what it proposed, Sesc Pompeia proved that the revitalization proposed by the architect was not limited to the old industry, but extended to the entire region that surrounded it, bringing shows, workshops, theater and serving as a
non-erudite social space. but everyday and democratic .
See the full list from the New York Times:
| 1st | Luis Barragan House | Mexico City (1948) |
| 2nd | Farnsworth House, by Mies van der Rohe | Illinois (USA, 1951) |
| 3rd | New Gourna Village, by Hassan Fathy | Luxor (Egypt, 1952) |
| 4th | Säynätsalo Town Hall, by Alvar Aalto | Jyvaskyla (Finland, 1952) |
| 5th | Seagram Building by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | New York (USA, 1958) |
| 6th | Kagawa Prefecture by Kenzo Tange | Takamatsu (Japan, 1958) |
| 7th | Renovation of the Querini Stampalia Foundation, by Carlo Scarpa | Venice (Italy, 1959) |
| 8th | Sainte-Marie de La Tourette Convent, by Le Corbusier | Eveux (France, 1960) |
| 9th | Haystack Mountain School of Crafts by Edward Larrabee Barnes | Maine (USA, 1961) |
| 10th | Salk Institute for Biological Research, by Louis Kahn | California (USA, 1965) |
| 11th | Montreal Biosphere, by Buckminster Fuller | Canada (1967) |
| 12th | Johnson Publishing Company Building, by John W. Moutoussamy | Chicago (USA, 1971) |
| 13th | Sydney Opera House by Jorn Utzon | Australia (1973) |
| 14th | Les Arcs Ski Resort by Charlotte Perriand | Savoie (France, 1974) |
| 15th | Van Wassenhove House, by Juliaan Lampens | Sint-Martens-Latem (Belgium, 1974) |
| 16th | Pompidou Center, by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers | Paris (France, 1977) |
| 17th | Indian Institute of Management, by Balkrishna Doshi | Bangalore (India, 1983) |
| 18th | Sesc Pompeia, by Lina Bo Bardi | Sao Paulo (Brazil, 1986) |
| 19th | Vals Baths, by Peter Zumthor | Vals (Switzerland, 1996) |
| 20th | Gando Primary School, by Francis Kéré | Gando (Burkina Faso, 2001) |
| 21st | Central Campus of the China Academy of Art, by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu | Hangzhou (China, 2007) |
| 22nd | Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, by Marina Tabassum | Dhaka (Bangladesh, 2012) |
| 23rd | Series 'Color(ed) Theory', by Amanda Williams | Chicago (USA, 2014-2016) |
| 24th | Grand Parc, by Lacaton & Vassal, Frédéric Druot and Christophe Hutin | France (2017) |
| 25th | International Space Station, various designers | Earth Orbit (1998-2011, ongoing) |
