The exhibition, organized by Casa da Arquitectura, where it was held between September 2018 and September 2019, traveled to Brazilian territory as part of a partnership with SESC and brings together about 90 architectural projects by 96 professionals, among them Lucio Costa, Lina Bo Bardi, Oscar Niemeyer, Vilanova Artigas and Paulo Mendes da Rocha. It was the first Casa da Arquitectura exhibition to be shown outside Portugal.
Making a cut in the history of Brazilian architecture, the exhibition starts in the 1920s, marked by the Week of Modern Art of 1922, until the present day. The exhibition addresses the freedom of creation brought by modernity and contemporaneity from new artistic and cultural perspectives in contrast to classical architecture, influenced by European constructions.
Infinite Span was held for the first time in Brazilian territory and brings together works ranging from the Modernist House of Gregori Warchavchik to movements linked to the “Right to the City” and the tangle of collectives and occupations that discuss the subject of housing in the years 2010.
Among the works on display is the SESC 24 de Maio building itself, opened in 2017, an architectural intervention project in an old building in the city of São Paulo, designed by Paulo Mendes Rocha and the MMBB Arquitetos office. Located in the historic centre, between the streets 24 de Maio and Dom José de Barros, the building - chosen to receive the exhibition - has a bold architecture, typical of contemporary creation, which Mendes da Rocha demonstrates on 13 floors interconnected by ramps and windows, seeking to “please no one, but everyone at once”, in the architect's words.
One of the assumptions of the curatorial lines is that architecture is part of a broad cultural and historical context, coexisting and sharing references with other languages, such as plastic arts, literature and music. The latter, in particular, assumes a prominent role in the exhibition, since each of the six exhibition centres, divided by the curators according to historical-cultural contexts, makes mention of a composition of the time. The nuclei receive the following names: From Guarani to Guaraná (1924-43); The Base is One (1943-57); Against the Slaps my Nose (1957-69); I saw a Brazil on TV (1969-85); Whole and Not Half (1985-2001) and Feeling on the Sole of the Foot (2001-2018).
The exhibition Infinite Span: 90 Years of Brazilian Architecture received almost 18 thousand visitors during the period it was on display at Casa da Arquitectura, in Matosinhos. The show's Parallel Programme produced 24 activities, both in Portugal and in Brazil, attended by 21 330 participants.