Paulo Mendes da Rocha (1928–2021) was a Brazilian architect who worked almost only in Brazil and is widely credited with renewing São Paulo through its cultural buildings. A graduate of Mackenzie Presbyterian University (1954) and a professor at the University of São Paulo's architecture school until 1998, he was influenced by Vilanova Artigas and the Paulista School. Much of his work is in concrete, an approach some call "Brazilian Brutalism". He won the Pritzker Prize in 2006 and the Venice Biennale's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in 2016.
Read moreShow less
His renovation of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (1998), the city's oldest art museum, helped make it one of Brazil's most active cultural institutions. In São Paulo he also designed MuBE – Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (1995). In Lisbon, the new National Coach Museum (2015), designed with the Ricardo Bak Gordon studio and the engineer Rui Furtado, holds most of the royal coach collection and has been Portugal's most visited national museum. Paulo Mendes da Rocha's buildings are studied for bold concrete structure and open public space.
Casa no Butantã (Paulo Mendes da Rocha House)1964 · São Paulo
Saint Peter Chapel, Campos do Jordão1987 · Campos do Jordão
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo1998 · São Paulo
Praça do Patriarca Canopy2002 · São Paulo
SESC 24 de Maio2017 · São Paulo
Serra Dourada Stadium1975 · Goiânia
Forma Furniture Showroom1994 · São Paulo
MuBE – Brazilian Museum of Sculpture1995 · São Paulo
National Coach Museum2015 · Lisbon