Architectural education in the trajectory of Lina Bo Bardi: FAUUSP and the University of Bahia

Abstract

This article examines the teaching activities of architect Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992) in 1955 and 1956 at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP) and in 1958 at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Bahia. Despite growing interest in the architect’s work and life, there remains a gap in studies of Lina as a professor of architecture. The objectives of this study are to analyze Lina Bo Bardi’s role in each teaching context, identifying the characteristics of her pedagogical work as an architecture professor, and to investigate her teaching materials via the identification, systematization, analysis, and cross-referencing of primary and secondary sources, as well as interviews with former students. We argue that Lina’s teaching trajectory valued cultural education, showed a particular position regarding education for modern architecture—which included the teaching of industrial design, especially via furniture design—and advocated the integration of theory and practice without abandoning the study of history and the exercise of rilievo, that is, learning from ancient buildings, as she herself had been taught in Italy.