Modern ornaments: portinary's tiles in Pampulha church

Abstract

Brazilian architecture from the period of 1930-1940 exhibits many atemporal concepts, representing architecture that is solid enough to absorb external influences without being overwhelmed by them. The focus of this article is to analyze azulejaria (ceramic tiles), used as a means of visually composing environments and providing legitimacy to architecture. This article will not attempt to review the whole architectural output of this period, but rather to review Brazilian architectural aesthetic values by analyzing elements in its key buildings. To do so, buildings that converge the work of both Portinari and Niemeyer are studied. We methodologically associate ambiance from the Brazilian modernist movement to understand the relationship among spaces, whether from a pictorial or architectural standpoint. Azulejaria was found to play an important role in architecture following the opening of the Pampulha Church, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the late 1940s. It attracted considerable attention of Brazil's neighboring countries, because in the first half of the 20th century these nations were trying to achieve their cultural autonomy.