| Oscar Niemeyer, Exhibition pavilion Oca, 1951
|
Oca – The Brazilian "Urhütte"
Cultural and constructive change in the material
Fr. 16.03. – Mo. 26.03.2012 | 10-11 Participants | Cost range E |
Impressions objects |
Poster
Oca is the Urhütte of Brazil, constructed from a delicate network both strong and slender wooden beams and covered with fern and
palm leafs. Oca meant in the language of the Tupi-Guarani a big house initially without subdivisions, where many families live in
common, while in Brazil today it is generic for the “Urhütte”-type. The houses with usually rounded floor plans give shelter up to
one hundred people and were built over centuries of time with very simple means. It was formed out of a very special kind of wood
craft, which is different from ours, especially concerning the typology of the components, the joints, and the building arrangement.
Today, the architecture of Brazil is internationally known for its prominent concrete buildings of the past decades, where especially
Oscar Niemeyer plays an important role. In 1954 Niemeyer erected an exhibition building in Sao Paulo Ibirapuera Park, which he
himself called “Oca”. Although Niemeyer`s concrete building refers to the traditional concept, concerning the openness of the
interior and the closure towards the exterior, the material is used in a way that is distant to the simplicity of the former manual
labor.
The seminar will travel to understand the traditional, archetypal designing with wood practically and to compare them with the
characteristics of industrial materials exemplified by the concrete structures of Brazilian modernism. The technical-constructive
change within the building materials should become apparent just as much as the cultural-aesthetic change.
Highlights
4-day stay in a village within a reserve, construction of an Oca-hut
3-day stay in Sao Paulo, the inspection of various buildings of the Brazilian modernism
expected discussions and tours with Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Milton Braga
Chair of Structural Design
Prof. Dr. Joseph Schwartz
Format
Transportation, accommodation, visits and reader are included.
last modified 4.2.2020
