The Teaching of Architecture and Urbanism in Brazil: 1930–1970

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present the scene which gave rise to the consolidation of the teaching of Architecture and Urbanism in Brazil in accordance with the precepts of Modern Architecture. Between 1930 and 1970 professional training and practice were intimately related to Brazilian political, social and economic contexts. This fact has led to the structuring of this article into three periods. In the first (1930-1945) the debates concerning the strengthening of the profession that took place. In the second (1945-1960) the courses disassociated themselves from the teaching of the Academies of Fine Arts and the Engineering Schools. In the third (1960–1970), despite the economic growth of the previous decade, the recognition of a Brazilian architecture and the consolidation of the system of teaching based on the precepts of Modern Architecture, Brazilian society saw itself turn into a dictatorial political regime. The years 1930 to 1970 were critical in strengthening Brazilian Modern Architecture, as well as being the decades that saw the launching of the basis of a teaching that echoes to the current day.