60 years after its first major event dedicated to Latin American architecture, from March 29 to July 19, 2015, the MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York presents the exhibition Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980.
The exhibition is a comprehensive retrospective of architectural creativity in the sub-region, from Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, from Mexico to Cuba, during the period from 1955 to the eighties.
The new exhibition, differently from the first one that was mainly based on photographs, features a very diverse set of documents, many previously unseen: architectural blueprints, scale models, historical photos, and videos, on loan from design studios and universities; integrated by newly-made models of key buildings.
Brasilia under construction, 1957. Geofoto. Arquivo Publico do Distrito Federal
Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. Plaza of the three powers, Brasilia, Brazil, 1958-1960. Photograph: Leonardo Finotti © Leonardo Finotti
Though the exhibition is mainly focused on the 1955-1989 period, an ample introductory section is dedicated to the previous decades and presents a series of videos, created by filmmaker and producer Joey Forsyte from historical footage, depicting the urban transformation of the region’s capital cities, two university campuses in Mexico City and Caracas and the creation of Brasilia.
Miguel Rodrigo Mazuré (Peruvian, 1926–2014). (Peruvian, 1926–2014). Hotel in Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu (Project). 1969. Perspective. © Archivo Miguel Rodrigo Mazuré.
Affonso Eduardo Reidy. Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1934-1947. ©Núcleo de Documentação e Pesquisa – Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Images, courtesy of MoMA.
Cover image:
Oscar Niemeyer. Cathedral Under Construction, Brasilia, Brazil. Photographer: Unknown. Arquivo Publico do Distrito Federal .
Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980.
temporary exhibition – from March 29 to July 19, 2015
http://www.moma.org/