O modernismo e o núcleo fabril: o anteprojeto de Lúcio Costa para monlevade

Abstract

The project of the architect Lucio Costa for a design competition which was organized in 1934 by the steel company Belgo-Mineira for a settlement at Monlevade provides a link between the form of company towns and modern architecture. Costa's proposal discloses the intellectual influence of sociologist Gilberto Freyre, which can be seen in the use of the notion of "plasticity" as an essential quality of the settlement plan and also seen in the notion of "elastic delimitation" proposed by this architect. The mixture of modern and traditional construction techniques in the settlement's architectural design can be seen as yet another contemporary manifestation of the "plasticity" notion, as celebrated by the Freyre when dealing with Brazil's colonial residential architecture. The architect also reclaims basic principles that were common in the organization of company towns: dispersion, "neutralizing" the streets and the provision of inexpensive yet comfortable and hygienic housing. The house is considered as the locus of relaxation and of family life, while acting against the notion of the street as a living place. Costa also proposed that the company should control the decoration in the houses, suggesting that only approved furniture be allowed, as was the case in many other factory settlements. Design projects for public buildings promoted a convergence between the proposals of economy and of architectural sincerity present in the discourse of modern movement and the logic of accountancy drawn from the factory world. This junction indicates not only the dedication with which the architect attempted to further the plans of Belgo-Mineira, but also the links between the architecture of company towns and the idea of mass housing as espoused by the modern movement.