{"id":188048,"date":"2025-08-30T22:16:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T22:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188048\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T22:16:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T22:16:20","slug":"oscar-niemeyers-concrete-saucer-hosts-a-weekend-of-modernism-in-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/188048\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Niemeyer\u2019s concrete saucer hosts a weekend of modernism in Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 60 Brazilian design objects inhabit the sweeping, futuristic architecture of Oscar Niemeyer<\/a>\u2018s Museu de Arte Contempor\u00e2nea Niter\u00f3i in Rio de Janeiro this weekend. The free exhibition, \u2018Then and Now: Brazilian Legacy\u2019<\/a>, presents an intergenerational dialogue between modernist and contemporary Brazilian designers.<\/p>\n

For Galerie Philia, the international design and contemporary art platform that organised the event, \u2018Then and Now\u2019 offers a moment to reflect on the continuity of cultural expression in the face of vast societal and environmental change. \u2018The context has shifted from utopian optimism to ecological urgency,\u2019 says curator Yga\u00ebl Attali, \u2018but the conviction that design can shape how we inhabit the world endures. Together, these works exemplify the breadth of Brazilian design<\/a> \u2013 intimate, monumental, sculptural and poetic.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Fernando Mendes, Santos Dumont Armchair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Ricardo Fasanello Design, Fardos Lounge Chair and Vintage Anel \u201960s Chair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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L\u2019atelier, Tea Cart. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Alva Design, Estreito Bench. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Jos\u00e9 Zanine Caldas, Mesa Oval. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Fakasaka, Ava Bench. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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A\u00edda Boal, Augusta Rocking Chair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Est\u00fadio Orth, C\u00e1lice Objects. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Sergio Rodrigues, Mena Chair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Estudio Prosa, Wall Mounted Console. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Alva Design, Boia Amrchair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Atelier Dutr\u00e9, Bench. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Gisela Simas, Rolling Cart. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Gustavo Dias, Dinner Baob\u00e1 Table. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Hanna Englund, Jaca Vases. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

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Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia. <\/p>\n

Early modernists like Lina Bo Bardi<\/a>, Jos\u00e9 Zanine Caldas, Joaquim Tenreiro and Jorge Zalszupin used design to carve out a new national vision, while their contemporary heirs \u2014 including Aver, Dimitrih Correa, Hanna Englund and Alexia Vela Akasaka \u2014 are rather driven by sustainability, material research and the complexity of identity. Still there are many shared qualities among the oeuvres. \u2018What unites them is an ethic of material intimacy and craft,\u2019 says Attali. \u2018Whether it is Tenreiro working with native woods, Zanine Caldas carving salvaged trunks or Hugo Fran\u00e7a reclaiming monumental fallen trees today, there is a deep respect for the expressive potential of material.\u2019<\/p>\n

The featured contemporary designers engage with the modernist legacy \u2018not by imitating, but by reframing\u2019. For example, Gabriela Campos names her furniture after Calder and Mondrian; Est\u00fadio Orth nods to Brutalism<\/a> through sculptural cast brass; Maximiliano Crovato references art deco and Italian maximalism.<\/p>\n

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Gabriela Campos, Calder Chair. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia.<\/p>\n

It was important for Attali to stage the exhibition within \u2018a manifesto of modernism\u2019, and Niemeyer\u2019s circular galleries at MAC Niter\u00f3i \u2018create a rhythm that naturally lends itself to dialogue\u2019, he explains. \u2018We opted for interweaving modern and contemporary works rather than separating them, so that resonances and dissonances could be felt.\u2019<\/p>\n

The cadence of these conversations is amplified by the short weekend run of the exhibition: \u2018It becomes an event, a moment not to be missed, rather than a show one can always postpone visiting,\u2019 says Attali. \u2018This urgency heightens the dialogue between past and present \u2014 a temporary constellation that lives only in memory once it closes.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Jay Boggo, Which Hat Table. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia.<\/p>\n

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Andrea Ferri, Floating Table with the Floating Lamp. Photography: \u00a9 Denilson Machado, courtesy of Galerie Philia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 60 Brazilian design objects inhabit the sweeping, futuristic architecture of Oscar Niemeyer\u2018s Museu de Arte Contempor\u00e2nea…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":188049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,105279,105280,105281,1033,171,105282,105283,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-188048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-brazilian-design","11":"tag-brazilian-modernism","12":"tag-brazilian-museum","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-oscar-niemeyer","16":"tag-rio-museum","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115120032256394435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}