Lina Bo Bardi

«We traveled throughout São Paulo and couldn’t find a single person who had a modern chair. We were compelled to design it!». That was how Lina Bo Bardi came to design the Bowl Chair back in 1951 to place it in her Casa de Vidro. Nowadays, the Bowl Chair which she had designed is produced in an expensive limited edition. Born in Rome in 1914, she graduated in architecture with Marcello Piacentini and later moved to Milan where she was a scholar of Gio Ponti. She married the journalist and gallery owner Pietro Maria Bardi, an ardent Fascist. Later, becoming the director of the Museum of Art in Sao Paulo, they moved to Brazil in 1946 where they both became fervent communists. In 1968, the MASP, the most important museum in Latin America, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth on a State visit. Designed by Bo Bardi with a totally innovative concept, she anticipated subjects somewhere between brutalism, modernism and minimalism, the two major breakthroughs that were to become the pride of the Beaubourg: outdoor open spaces that could be used for artistic events and the versatility of interior spaces. She was one of the most unique architects, designers, theorists, set designers and lecturers of the 20th century. Lina Bo Bardi will be awarded the special garden won for lifetime achievement at the Architecture Biennale 2021 in Venice on May 22.