Abstract
Frank Lloyd Wright sailed into Rio de Janeiro in October 1931, after the Pan-American Union of Architects asked him to be on the jury of the International Competition for the Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo. His visit has been seen as secondary and is scarcely mentioned in the historiography of modern Brazilian architecture. His stay was given wide press coverage, with interviews and front-page headlines, and several tributes were arranged. During his 23-day stay in Rio, the city’s leading newspapers vigorously spread his innovative ideas, reflecting the feelings of many young people who saw Wright’s theories as potentially a source of inspiration for their own careers. He lectured on his theories and attended the inauguration of one of the first modern houses in the city. But not all was admiration for the master. Architects trained in the Beaux Arts tradition, whose doctrines had inspired the creation of the local National School of Fine Arts, rejected innovation and saw Wright as an enemy to be conquered so as to avoid the contamination of new generations. Without any doubt, the presence of Wright in Rio could be included among the factors that contributed to the consolidation of modern architecture in Brazil.
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