LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2021 TO LINA BO BARDI

Giraffe chair Lina Bo Bardi 
Instituto Bardi 

Lina Bo Bardi, 

the Italian architect, designer, 

scenographer, artist, 

who lived and worked mainly in Brazil, 

is recognized fully in her home country 

of Italy and consequently the whole of Europe,

since she is the recipient of 

the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 

in memoriam of the 17th International Architecture 

Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 

that  opened  May 22, 2021 

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

The acknowledgment was recommended by Hashim Sarkis, 

curator of the Biennale Architettura 2021, 

and approved by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia.

In recommending this award, Hashim Sarkis 

expressed the following motivation:

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

«If there is one architect 

who embodies most 

fittingly the theme 

of the Biennale Architettura 2021, 

it is Lina Bo Bardi. 

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

Her career as a designer, editor, curator, 

and activist reminds us of the role of 

the architect as convener and importantly, 

as the builder of collective visions. 

Lina Bo Bardi also exemplifies the 

perseverance of the architect 

in difficult times whether wars, 

political strife, or immigration, 

and her ability to remain creative, 

generous, and optimistic throughout.

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

Above all, it is her powerful buildings 

that stand out in their design and in the way 

that they bring architecture, 

nature, living, and community together. 

In her hands, architecture becomes truly a convening social art.»

Just as one example, the design of the São Paulo Museum 

MASP click to see my visit at MASP

is exemplary in its ability to create a 

public space for the whole city, 

to create spaces inside that are flexible 

and to be open to experimental and more inclusive 

exhibitions such as Bo Bardi’s own exhibitions. 

The titles of these exhibitions alone, 

“The House as Soul,” “The Dignity of Architecture,” 

and “The Hand of the Brazilian People,” 

illustrate very strongly the power 

of architecture to bring people together.

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

The Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement is a long overdue recognition for an illustrious career straddling between Italy and Brazil, for re-enlivening the role of the architect as an enabler of society, 

and for a woman who 

simply represents 

the architect 

at her best.»

Casa do Vidro Lina Bo Bardi 

Congratulations 

LINA BO BARDI 

Stay in touch 

Jimmy 

 

The becoming of Bucha

                 

            When I understood that this cucumber cousin     

           holds the sponge I have seen in bathrooms

            all over I decided to grow Bucha in our pergola.  

Bucha or Luffa cylindrica   was first described by 

Carl von Linné , but received the name  

from Johann Jakob Roemer.

Said and done. Bucha growing in the pergola.   

All plants  gave fruit apart from the  one that were cut 

down  by misstake (I hope) by our  Gardiner...  

When the Bucha is fully grown and ripe   

it is harvest time. 

The seed pod  just inside the green  peel is 

what we want to harvest unharmed. 

The seed pod is then cut open and washed clean

and all the seeds are removed . 

After drying in the sun and  cleaned again  the magic

 sponge material is ready to be used. 

My thought was to create a new shape  

using  pieces of the

 Bucha seed pod as well  

as well as whole  ones. 

Working at the veranda at Casa da Ilha

 I  stocked up on dried Bucha seed pods. 

By sewing the pieces of the Bucha together  with a  

green organic cotton tread I am starting to   learn  what  this

 sponge material is capable of.

I like sewing by hand and used a simple 

type of stitching that 

secures with  knots for durability. 

Sometimes sitting in the garden 

on a blanket stitching. 

A new form is slowly being born. 

A hat type of shape. 

The cut pieces of the Busha I  

will use  as well. 

No waste of any kind  preferably. 

A hat shape (or a sea urchin?) 

that I was born I  

want to   build a stand  

or  you  could call it a hanger  

attached with LED light this   Busha 

hat will become a  luminescent  

hat or we can call it a lamp. 

'

Really in love with 

this organic material 

and the possibilities 

it has.   

Bucha at sun set. 

Bucha in the morning. 

Hat is Chapéu in  Portuguese, 

could be a good name. 

Bucha - Chapéu seen from 

above or from underneath 

if you hang it in your ceiling. 

Time to cut the green thread or 

umbilical cord if  you may. 

The becoming of Bucha. 

The workshop  on the 

veranda where I  

have been cutting ,

 sewing and creating. 

I mean is it not fantastic 

what you 

can create from 

organic materia, 

right?

To create interior products with no negative 

impact on our planet is the idea. 

This is a good suggestion so far. 

Stay in touch! 

Jimmy