An answer to Vilanova Artigas. For an own headquarter

Abstract

One of the atributes that made the IAB-São Paulo Building a singular object is the rare, if not unique, model of designing a size and typology raised by and for their users in favor of a cause. This happened because, in 1943, when the Paulista Department of the Institute of Architects of Brazil was organized, an unprecedented movement was also launched. Its merit was to unite the professional class around renovation the architecture, similar to the internationally recognized Rio de Janeiro’s group. However, the lack of a specific study about the role the Department played in the implementing of avant-garde trends compromises the critical recognition of the relationship between the Paulista class and the change of architecture produced in the city, symbolized in the IAB-SP building itself, opened in 1950. Therefore, identifying the now named Movement IABsp and its followers, can improve the criteria of analysis and criticism about the local architectural practice during Eduardo Kneese de Mello’s administration at the institut (1943-1950). In response to Vilanova Artigas who, during a series of personal testimonies questioned the anonymity of his peers who engaged with him in the collective action, this article does not detach the merits of the IAB-SP building itself, listed by the National Institute for Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), in 2015.