concrete

/  by Thomas DeVoss

ofhouses:

João da Gama Filgueiras Lima - Lelé /// State Minister Residence /// Brasilia, DF, Brazil /// 1965 - OfHouses


Jorn Konijn: “Brazilian architect and urbanist João Filgueiras Lima (1932 – 2014), better known as Lelé, was a contemporary of Niemeyer and worked extensively with him on the realisation of the capital Brasilia. He is not that well known but he had an extensive and highly diverse oeuvre. Lelé was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1932 and later settled in Salvador. His projects transformed the look of industrial large-scale works and were always concerned with the issue of the human scale. Best known are his hospitals and footbridges in Salvador Bahia.
Lelé only designed a few individual residencies. The residence for the State Minister in Brasilia created in 1965 is little known. The main floor of the house was raised to provide a view on the bordering lake. In front of the lengthy glass façade the main eye catcher of residence is placed - the “vierendeel” type concrete beams. The use of this beam enabled the existence of large spans on the 1st level providing better integration between the various rooms. The large fixed brises in wooden latticework protect the northwest façade from the afternoon sun.”