Hosted by Ana Araujo, the event brings together four practitioners – Isa Ferraz, Marcelo Ferraz, Giancarlo Latorraca and Marco Romanelli – to present their experiences of working with Lina Bo Bardi and Gio Ponti at different stages of their careers. Ana Araujo will moderate a discussion following the presentations.
Isa Ferraz will discuss her collaboration with Lina Bo Bardi in editorial projects, the making of the documentary ‘Lina Bo Bardi’ (in the exhibition), and her work on many documentaries about Brazilian culture.
Marcelo Ferraz will outline his experience as Lina Bo Bardi’s main architectural collaborator from 1977 to
1992, and his recent work as a director of the practice ‘Brasil Arquitetura’.
Giancarlo Latorraca will discuss his experience of working as an intern in Bo Bardi’s studio as well as his curatorial work at the Museu da Casa Brasileira, where he curates exhibitions on Brazilian and international craft and design.
Marco Romanelli explores Ponti’s architecture and his own work as curator of Gio Ponti’s exhibition at the Design Museum.
Isa Grinspum Ferraz was named as one of the '100 Most Influential Brazilians' in the periodical Isto É in 2006. Since 1980 she has been working as a scriptwriter, film director, curator and editor. Among other works, Ferraz realised the documentary Lina Bo Bardi as well as the award-winning film script for Religiões Africanas no Brasil (African Religions in Brazil). In 2011 she directed the film Marighella, which was shortlisted for many awards in Brazil and internationally. Ferraz was Lina Bo Bardi's collaborator in a series of projects, including the influential book Tempos de Grossura: Design no Impasse (Times of Rudeness: Design at an Standstill). Ferraz works as a trustee and a director of the Darcy Ribeiro Foundation.
Marcelo Carvalho Ferraz was born in Carmo de Mina, Brazil. He graduated in architecture from FAU-USP (São Paulo) in 1978 and was a collaborator of Lina Bo Bardi between 1977 and 1992, including on the famous leisure centre Sesc Pompéia in São Paulo. Ferraz was a director of the Lina Bo and PM Bardi Institute from 1992 to 2001. He was visiting Professor at the Washington University in St Louis (US) in 2006, and he currently teaches at the Escola da Cidade, in São Paulo. Since 1979, Ferraz has been a founding partner of Brasil Arquitetura, a practice whose projects include the Polytheama Theatre and the Rodin Museum (Brazil). His most recent book is Arquitetura Conversável in 2011.
Giancarlo Latorraca is a tutor at the Escola da Cidade in São Paulo. As a practitioner, he has collaborated with the practice Brasil Arquitetura and with Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Latorraca worked at the Lina Bo and PM Bardi Institute from 1993 to 2001, curating exhibitions nationally and internationally, and also participating in editorial projects. He is technical director at the Museu da Casa Brasileira in São Paulo, where his curatorial approach focuses on the dissemination of the Brazilian material culture – a continuation of Lina Bo Bardi’s cultural project.
Marco Romanelli was born in Trieste in 1958. He obtained his degree in Architecture in Genoa in 1983 and, in 1984, a Masters Degree in Design. Romanelli works in the fields of design, interior architecture and exhibit design (in 2002–03 “-‘Gio Ponti: a World’ in London, Rotterdam, Milan; in 2007 ‘Bruno Munari’, Tokyo; in 2011 ‘Design, una storia italiana’, Rome/Turin). Alongside his design work he studies topics involving living and design: he has been editor of both Domus (1986–94) and Abitare (1995–2007).