If it is true that Brazilian architecture today is still strongly indebted to Oscar Niemeyer’s modernist lesson and that brutalism with its bare and rough volumes still has strong roots in the local socio-economic substratum, it is also true that in recent decades designers have been able to come to terms with the intransigent rigour of the last century to explore “softer” and more varied languages, always in search of a close dialogue with local culture.
An example of this is the use and reinterpretation, in many contemporary works, of a typical element of the Brazilian building tradition such as the cobogó, introduced from the 1920s onwards and widely disseminated by Modernism. The cobogó – an acronym of the first syllables of the surnames of its creators, the engineers Coimbra, Boeckmann and Góis – is a perforated brick, made of terracotta or concrete and now also of other materials such as ceramics and wood, which in aggregate form allows the construction of walls with the function of filtering the dazzling tropical light and facilitating natural ventilation: like the Arabian mashrabiyya, a tool to guarantee micro-climatic well-being in environments with extreme climates, and privacy from external gaze at the same time. In addition to the strictly functional aspects, the multiple ways in which the units are assembled and geometrically designed allow for a wide variety of compositions, enriching the space with vibrant chiaroscuro effects depending on the time of day.
Thus in São Paulo, plastic and sculptural perforated backdrops embellish the sober volumes of the homes designed by Marcio Kogan (Cobogó house, B+B House) and Studio Arthur Casas (BD house), and handcrafted textures give the interiors of a shop designed by Estudio Campana (Aesop Store) a warm and material character; in Várzea Paulista, a full-bodied school complex is transformed into a light screen by day and a “lantern” by night. From Brazil, then, the use of cobogó has spread widely to other countries, starting with Mexico where Frida Escobedo (La Tallera) encloses a pre-existing structure in a diaphanous skin, like in an enveloping but delicate embrace.
6 architectures to explain what Brazilian cobogó is
This building element from the local vernacular tradition, widely used since Modernism, is re-interpreted in a contemporary key.
Photo Fernando Guerra
Photo Fernando Guerra
Photo Fernando Guerra
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- Chiara Testoni
- 20 October 2022
Realised through an industrialised construction process, the school complex is divided into a single-storey building housing the multi-sports centre and another hosting classrooms, offices and services on three levels. A large forecourt serves as an interface zone between the external public space and the internal semi-public space. On the main façade, a perforated 'screen' composed of irregularly textured concrete blocks forms a large mosaic that lets the view of the outside filter in during the day and transforms the illuminated building into a diaphanous sculpture at night.
The 1960s workshop-house of painter and activist David Alfaro Siqueiros has been given a new lease of life as one of Mexico's most important centres of experimentation in the field of mural art. Two majestic Siqueiros murals were removed from their original location and relocated outside on sloping planes that serve as backdrops to the plaza and common areas. The renovation work included a gallery/museum, a library and artists' accommodation; the existing spaces were preserved and painted a neutral white to house the exhibitions. A triangular shaped perforated concrete block envelope forms a protective and sculptural screen embracing the entire existing complex.
A house with a somewhat "Hollywood" allure that combines contemporaneity with a traditional expressive language: this is the single-family dwelling realised by Marcio Kogan in a green residential district of São Paulo. The building's sober, linear volumes are enriched by soft, sinuous geometries in the top of the façades where three-dimensional perforated elements in precast concrete, designed by the Austro-American artist Erwin Hauer, recall the modules of modernist cobogó and give the elevations a plastic, sculptural character.
In B+B House, the theme of vertical distribution as an architectural promenade is decisive in the design: the main access to the communal spaces is via a 25 m long ramp that extends the transition between exterior and interior in an almost "ceremonial" path, within an "interstitial" environment screened by a perforated backdrop of aggregated concrete modules with different geometries.
This shop of a famous cosmetic brand, located in the lively artistic neighbourhood of Vila Madalena, is a declared homage to the traditional Brazilian cobogó brick. The interior, in uninterrupted continuity with the outdoor space, proposes the serial repetition of radiating terracotta elements that evoke the masonry and decorative textures typical of the local craft tradition.
An oasis of calm with modernist suggestions amidst the rich suburban foliage of the metropolis: such is the appearance of this villa with a free floor plan and full-bodied, squared-off volumes in exposed concrete, set in a lush garden. The external wooden screen, inspired by traditional cobogó motifs, envelops the upper levels, filtering light and views and facilitating natural ventilation.