was born on october 25, 1928 in the state of esp’ritosanto in brazil. he moved with his family to sao pauloin the thirties. he studied at the mackenzie architectureschool in 1954. After graduating he won a nationalcompetition for the construction of a sports area at thepaulistano athletic club in sao paulo. this work broughthim public recognition. in 1969 he designed the brazilianpavilion for the international expo in osaka, japan.in 1971, he participated in the competition for thegeorge pompidou center. in 2000 he received theinvitation to design the project for the aquatic complexfor the 2008 olympiad in paris.

his most recent works are the development of thetechnological city for the vigo university, spain,and the student dormitories for the cagliari university, italy.mendes da rocha was a teacher at the schoolof architecture at the university of sao paulo duringthe 1960s, after joining the invitation of his friend,architect vilanova artigas.in 1969 he was forced to resign his teaching position bythe brazilian military dictatorship, only in 1980 afterthe amnesty he was allowed to come back to the school,teaching with the same enthusiasm as before, until hisretirement in 1999.he has been awarded numerous international honors

including: honorary fellow of the professional architectsassociation of lisbon, the mies van der rohe awardfor his project for sao paulo's pinacoteca, and in 2000he was selected to represent brazil in the venice biennale.in 2006 he received the pritzker architecture prize.

1964: Guaimbê Residential Building in São Paulo, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

Pritzker-prize winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha is known for bold simplicity and an innovative use of concrete and steel.

The Guaimbê Residential Building in São Paulo, Brazil, designed by Brazilian Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate for 2006.

Photo © José MoscardiArchitect Paulo Mendes da Rocha designed the Guaimbê apartment building as a long narrow plate. Reinforced concrete walls support the 23-foot span. Mendes da Rocha also created a special screen to protect the surface receiving the most sunlight. The openings on the west facade, with their parallel concrete slats, unify the space and the rhythm of the interior.

1987: The Forma Store in São Paulo, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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The Forma Store in São Paulo, Brazil, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Nelson KonPaulo Mendes da Rocha designed the Forma Store in São Paulo, Brazil to allow for maximum display space. The showcase window is elevated and spans the entire length of the building. Thus, the window becomes billboard, easily seen by passing traffic.

Inside the store, equipment and support services are placed at each end of opposing concrete walls. The center area is open for product displays.

The Forma store is elevated with 900 square yards of parking space located below. The main entrance is reached via a retractable staircase.

1988: Brazilian Museum of Sculpture in São Paulo, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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The Brazilian Museum of Sculpture in São Paulo, Brazil, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Nelson KonThe Brazilian Museum of Sculpture sets on a 75,000-square foot triangular site on a main thoroughfare in São Paulo, Brazil. Instead of creating a free-standing building, architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha treated the museum and the landscape are treated as a whole.

Large concrete slabs create partly underground internal spaces and also form an exterior plaza with water pools and an esplanade. An emmense 97-foot long, 39-foot wide beam frames the museum.

1987: Chapel of Saint Peter in Campos de Jordão, SP, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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The Chapel of Saint Peter in Campos de Jordão, SP, Brazil designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Cristiano MascaroThe Chapel of Saint Peter in Campos de Jordão is located near the Boa Vista Palace, which was once a winter residence for the Governor of São Paulo. By constructing the chapel of concrete, glass, and stone, Mendes da Rocha creates the sense of strength and simplicity. Religious spaces flow around a single massive column at the center. A two-story glass façade looks out over a reflecting pool to the distant Mantiquera mountain peaks.

The irregular topography of the building site creates an optical illusion. From the esplanade facing the palace, the chapel appears to be a simple one-story structure.

Pritzker-prize winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha is known for bold simplicity and an innovative use of concrete and steel.8 of 12Prev Next

The Patriarch Plaza and Viaduct do Cha in São Paulo, Brazil, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Bebete ViegasPaulo Mendes da Rocha renovated and restructured the public space in the center of São Paulo, Brazil. Cars and buses were re-routed. Bus stops were moved to an 800-foot long overpass, Viaduct do Cha. The original paving was restored. A roof canopy suspended from an architrave was constructed over the plaza. The canopy frames views and also forms an inviting portal for pedestrians.

1993: State Museum of São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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Brazilian State Museum of São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Nelson KonDesigned by architect Ramos de Azevedo in the late 1800s, the State Museum of São Paulo once housed the School of Arts and Crafts. When asked to renovate the classical, symmetrical building, Mendes da Rocha did not change the exterior. Instead, he focused on the interior rooms.

Mendes da Rocha worked on the organization of gallery spaces, created new spaces, and resolved problems with humidity. Glass roofs framed with metal were placed over the central and side courtyards. Frames were stripped from the internal window openings so that they would provide outside views. The central courtyard was turned into a slightly sunken auditorium to accommodate 40 people. Metal catwalks were installed through the courtyards to connect the galleries at the upper levels.

1995: Residence for Mario Masetti, Cava Estate, in Cabreuva, SP, Brazil

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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Residence for Mario Masetti, Cava Estate, in Cabreuva, SP, Brazil, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

Photo © Nelson KonPaulo Mendes da Rocha calls this modest home a a multifaceted event in the landscape and a suite of little surprises. Located in Cabreuva, a small town northwest of São Paulo, the house is linear and symmetrical, while its pool is rounded and irregular. Inside the house, straight concrete walls are juxtaposed with a curved stone wall.

2000: Studies for the 2008 Olympic Games in Paris, France

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

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Studies for Installations for the 2008 Olympic Games in Paris, France, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.

© Paulo Mendes da RochaWhen Paris, France vied to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha was one of the 12 architects invited to contribute ideas for a vast sports complex. He designed a model Olympic village in collaboration with Alexandre Delijaicov, Anna Ferrari, Cecilia Scharlach, Eduardo Colonelli, Emilie Boudet, Fernando de Mello Franco, Jorge Zaven Kurkdjian, Marta Moreira, Martin Corullon, Milton Braga, Rostko Kovacevic, Roberto Klein, and Silvio Oksman.

The Olympic Committee chose Beijing for the 2008 Games, so this project was never constructed.

2004: Master plan for the Technological City, University of Vigo, Spain

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architect

Pritzker-prize winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha is known for bold simplicity and an innovative use of concrete and steel.

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2004: Master plan for the Technological City, University of Vigo, Spain, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate

Rendering © Paulo Mendes da RochaMendes da Rocha is developing a master plan for the Technological City, part of the University of Vigo in Spain. He is working to integrate new buildings designed by several different Spanish architects into an overall landscape scheme. The Technological City is designed to foster connections between various buildings: library, engineering departments, student residences, and administration offices.

In six decades of work, the Brazilian architect has been creating "honest" buildings, according to the Pritzker jury. His projects include high-rises made of concrete, stadiums of concrete, houses –- even his own –- of concrete, and a chapel in — you guessed it — concrete.

Brazil was not rich and it lacked highly trained construction workers, so da Rocha created simple buildings with simple forms in the simplest of materials. Called "Brazilian Brutalist," it's a modernist style for a new-world country.

But architecture is not about style, da Rocha says.

"Architecture is a human endeavor inspired by the nature all around us," he says. "We must transform nature; fuse science, art and technology into a sublime statement of human dignity."

Da Rocha’s style has been called “Brazilian Brutalism,” a style that emphasizes the hard curves and edges of the medium (typically concrete), while also exposing the function of the structure–there is no 

attempt to disguise the use to which the building is being put, no attempt to mask the utilitarian relationship between human beings and the structures they employ. It is in this sense that Brutalism is as much a philosophy of architecture as it is a creative style; unlike Deborah Berke’s intention to allow her pieces to subtly enhance their surroundings, or Louis Kahn’s reminders of the ethereal depths of human spirit,  Brutalist architects are often criticised for creating structures that ignore their environment completely, and as a result seem alien and, sometimes, grotesque. But Brazilian Brutalist works also have a political undertone; concrete is inexpensive, sturdy, and readily available–important qualities when working in a country that has been economically stymied for so long. And, too, the unabashed power of these structures may be a testment to the fact that even the poor and the oppressed can rise up in sweeping arcs, supported by materials as humble as limestone, sand, and water.

                                                

                                                           Awards PAULO MENDES DA ROCHA PRITZKER PRIZE

Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has been chosen as the 2006 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In announcing the jury's choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, said, "Mendes da Rocha has shown a deep understanding of space and scale through the great variety of buildings he has designed... While few of his buildings were realized outside of Brazil, the lessons to be learned from his work, both as a practicing architect and a teacher, are universal."

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, in full Paulo Archias Mendes da Rocha  (born Oct. 25, 1928, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Braz.), Brazilian architect known for bringing a modernist sensibility to the architecture of his native country. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2006, becoming the second Brazilian (after Oscar Niemeyer) to receive the honour.

Mendes da Rocha moved to São Paulo as a child with his mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants, and his father, a Brazilian engineer. After completing a degree in architecture (1954) at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, Mendes da Rocha began a career in that city. From the start he was associated with the architectural cutting edge, and in 1958 his designs for the Club Athletico Paulistano, the first of his many prizewinning structures, gave evidence of his daring and original vision. He won the competition for the Jockey Club in Goiâna in 1963 and in 1969 was selected (with Flavio Motta, Julio Katinsky, and Ruy Ohtake) to build the Brazilian Pavilion for Expo 1970 in Ōsaka. It was his first international building, and many others followed, including in 2004 a project in Spain to enlarge and reorganize the campus of the University of Vigo.

Nevertheless, Mendes da Rocha continued to construct most of his work in São Paulo. He counted houses, high-rise apartment buildings, stadiums, schools, social clubs, offices, clinics, bus terminals, libraries, and a reservoir among his structures. He also designed furniture (such as the Paulistano chair [1957]), opera sets (for Suor Angelica [1990] and The 500-Year Opera [1992]), and architectural exhibitions (1997 and 1998). One of his most significant designs was for São Paulo’s Brazilian Museum of Sculpture. As he expanded his portfolio, Mendes da Rocha developed his own distinctive vocabulary. Employing a style that became known as Paulist Brutalism, he used great expanses of concrete in his buildings, managing to create a sense of monumentality without massiveness, modernism without alienation.