Film Screening: PMR 29 – Paulo Mendes da Rocha in Documentary

PMR 29’ is a recent documentary that presents some of Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s most important projects and the architects’ reflections on them through an interview held at the architect’s office on the 1st of May of 2010. The documentary is directed by the architects Carolina Gimenez, Catherine Otondo, João Sodré, José Paulo Gouvêa and Juliana Braga.
In 2006, Mendes da Rocha received the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The jury cited his “deep understanding of the poetics of space” and an “architecture of profound social engagement.” 
Born in Brazil in 1928, Mendes da Rocha began his career in São Paulo in the 1950s as a member of the Paulista brutalist avant-garde. He has maintained a private practice, taught at the University of São Paulo and acted as President of the Brazilian Institute for Architects. Among his built projects are the Museum of Contemporary Art (1975) at the University of São Paulo, the Forma Furniture showroom (1987) in São Paulo and the Brazilian Sculpture Museum (1987-1992). Recent projects include a master plan for Vigo University in Galicia, Spain, and the Boulevard des Sports in Paris, a complex intended to receive the 2008 Olympic Games.
“Unlike many people who are afraid of poverty, I have always been attracted to it, to simple things, without knowing why. Not hardship, but the humility of essential things. I think everything superfluous is irritating. Everything that is not necessary becomes grotesque, especially in our time.”
–Paulo Mendes da Rocha

GSD Brazil

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