Joao Batista Vilanova Artigas

João Batista Vilanova Artigas was a Brazilian architect, who was one of the pioneers of the modern architectural movement in Brazil. He was born in Paris, France, in 1915, to a Brazilian diplomat father and a French mother. He moved to Brazil with his family when he was two years old. He studied architecture at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, where he graduated in 1937. He worked as an assistant to the French urban planner Alfred Agache, who was in charge of designing the master plan for Rio de Janeiro. He also collaborated with Le Corbusier, the Swiss-French master of modern architecture, who visited Brazil several times in the 1930s. Artigas was part of the team of architects, along with Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Jorge Moreira, Ernani Vasconcelos, and Carlos Leão, who designed the Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio de Janeiro, under the supervision of Le Corbusier. This building, completed in 1943, is considered one of the landmarks of modern architecture in Brazil and the world. It features a reinforced concrete structure, a glass curtain wall, a brise-soleil facade, and a rooftop garden. Artigas also designed several other public buildings and urban projects in Rio de Janeiro, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Pedregulho Housing Complex, the Gávea Tourist Hotel, the Maracanã Stadium, and the Flamengo Park. He was influenced by the principles of functionalism, rationalism, and social responsibility. He sought to create harmonious and humanistic spaces that integrated with the natural and cultural environment. He was also concerned with the social aspects of architecture, and designed low-cost housing projects for the working class. He was married to Maria Cecília Naclério Homem, a journalist and art critic, who collaborated with him in some of his projects. He died of lung cancer in São Paulo in 1984, at the age of 68. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and original Brazilian architects of the 20th century.