THE ATEMPORALITY OF THE ARCHITECT LUCIO COSTA CREATIVE PROCESS: the role of precedent in his architectural conception

Abstract

This paper aims to interpret, critically, the published written work of the architect Lucio Costa and investigate, as main focus, the crucial role that the precedent assumes in its conception. In this context, the article intends to demonstrate that Lucio Costa's projectual process is atemporal, and can be better investigated and applied to contemporaneity. To complement the findings, it was necessary to analyze one of the projects of his authorship that contained a descriptive memorial, which was chosen for Parque Guinle, aiming to recognize the inseparability between thought and projectual practice in Lucio Costa. His published written work is recognized by several authors as being of great importance in the context of the insertion of modern architecture in Brazil. His texts became a landmark of theoretical foundation for design practice and influenced many architects who worked in the period between approximately the 1930s and 1960s in Brazil.