Occupation at Itaú Cultural showcases Artacho Jurado's iconic buildings

Contrary to the rationalist traits of modern architecture, Artacho Jurado developed projects that highlighted decorative elements, vibrant colors and living spaces. The architect saw beyond the sobriety and geometric rationality that marked the real estate market of the period: this vision was responsible for consecrating him as a kind of watercolorist of the urban landscape of São Paulo .

It is this spirit that, from June 20th to September 15th , Ocupação Artacho Jurado , presented to the public in the Multipurpose space, located on the second floor of Itaú Cultural . Around 130 pieces , including images, photographs, videos, original drawings, period advertising, a model and the personal collection of the Jurado family, allow the public to delve deeper into the life and work of the author of iconic buildings in the capital of São Paulo. “We sought to reveal Artacho’s constructive pragmatics. We followed less the reasoning of ideas or theory, since his architecture was little considered in academic terms, and instead looked at the constructive aspects of formal materials, which is what he focused on most,” explains Guilherme Giufrida, anthropologist and one of the curators of Ocupação. By engaging the public with the sounds of the architect's favorite operas and the view from some of his apartments, the exhibition presents the architectural legacy left by Artacho in the history of the city's architecture and in the real estate development industry. The exhibition's curatorship also reveals Jurado's story before he entered the architectural construction industry. He began his career as a sign artist for posters, banners, fairs and exhibitions in the 1920s, then went on to design stands for industrial fairs and established himself as an organizer of major events in the city. Photos from the time of neon signs, advertising signs and stands created for fairs illustrate this part of the exhibition. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the presence of a large commissioned model, which shows the architect's most important buildings and how they were inserted into the topography of São Paulo and Santos and presents a geolocalized chronology of his projects.

The richness of Artacho's constructive proposal is also evident in the studies he carried out for his various projects – including those that never got off the drawing board, such as the Marajoara Building. The set of previously unpublished documents presented in this exhibition allows us to understand the different stages of an architectural project: volumetric studies, sketches of interior spaces, halls , living rooms, facades and terraces, as well as the colorful perspectives used to present and sell the projects to future residents. An entire wall of the exhibition space is dedicated to what the curators call Artacho's grammar. It houses a commissioned photo essay by photographer Tuca Vieira that reveals in detail his construction elements, proposing a comprehensive investigation into the architect's aesthetics and its development over time, based on some of his buildings.

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Occupation Artacho Jurado When: June 20 to September 15, 2024 Where: Itaú Cultural - Avenida Paulista, 149, close to the Brigadeiro subway station. Visiting hours: Tuesday to Saturday, from 11am to 8pm; Sundays and holidays, from 11am to 7pm. Free entry.