Nineteen Thirties Architecture for Tropical Countries: Le Corbusier′s Brise–Soleil at the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

abstractAround 1930 the Modern Movement in Architecture had come of age in Europe. Suddenly, the architects of this movement realized that it had the potential to spread to the rest of the world and sought regions generally deprived of a firm sense of civil building procedures. To a certain extent, the tropics were one such area. Their authorities, mostly for want of social organization or techniques, welcomed the import of new industrial construction methods, seemingly efficient and unprejudiced, instead of inventing their own methods. However as modern materials had originated in temperate areas, their progress was hindered by the oppressiveness of the tropical climate. In this year–long investigation, the authors, through scientific design methods and computer simulation, would like to contribute to a careful examination of the systems conceived to overcome this major fault of modern architecture, and to provide solutions for the future. As the present study encompasses several different cultures, the case of the brise–soleil in South America will be discussed by first focusing on the figures of Le Corbusier and Lucio Costa.