In the previous post we looked at Flávio de Carvalho's outfit for "Experiência Nº 3". Let's continue the thread by looking at one of his architectural projects, the one for the Farol de Colombo (Columbus Lighthouse).
After studying in Europe, Flávio de Carvalho began his career in Brazil in 1922 as a structural engineer in São Paulo, a city undergoing rapid urbanization. In 1927, under the pseudonym "Efficacia," he took part in a competition for the Palácio do Governo do Estado de São Paulo, presenting a bold, modernist design inspired by Le Corbusier. His concept featured a fortress-like structure with airstrips, bomb shelters, floodlights, and terraces planted with native flora to attract birds. The uppermost level included an aviation base with landing fields and platforms for fighter planes, while the basement housed ammunition storage.
Carvalho's proposal was highly provocative and clashed with the conservative preferences of official competitions, reflecting his manifesto-like approach to architecture. Le Corbusier called him a "romantic revolutionary," admiring how Carvalho's designs merged art and science while celebrating engineering's alignment with the modern spirit. Carvalho later submitted innovative designs for the Argentine Embassy in Rio, the University of Minas Gerais, and the Assembleia Legislativa in São Paulo.
In 1928, the Pan-American Union launched a competition to design a lighthouse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, dedicated to Christopher Columbus. Flávio de Carvalho's submission featured an external structure reminiscent of concrete skyscrapers, while the interior design drew from a diverse array of Amerindian cultures, including the Aztec, Guarani, Maya, Marajoara, and Toltec. This strikingly anthropophagic blend of forms and cultures reflected a deliberate effort to synthesize and reinterpret traditions through a modern lens.
The exterior of the lighthouse was characterized by bold colors such as red, yellow, black, and green to symbolize connections between American and pre-Columbian cultures. Carvalho's design emphasized pure forms and balanced symmetry, with a vertical volume that imbued the structure with a monumental grandeur befitting a lighthouse. Internally, his commitment to engaging with the pre-Columbian past was evident in the materials and motifs: perforated iron grilles, ceramic floor patterns inspired by Marajoara art, and the incorporation of indigenous symbols, hieroglyphs, and decorative elements. Carvalho's design not only celebrated modernism but also established a profound dialogue between contemporary innovation and ancestral heritage.
In 1930, at the 4th Pan-American Congress of Architects in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio de Carvalho introduced himself as an "anthropophagic delegate," referencing the concept of anthropophagy (cultural cannibalism) famously articulated in Oswald de Andrade's Manifesto Antropófago (1928). This Brazilian Modernist principle advocated for metaphorically "devouring" foreign influences, that is absorbing, transforming, and reimagining them into something authentically Brazilian, rather than imitating or outright rejecting them.
For Carvalho, anthropophagy was a form of creative rebellion, a means to challenge the dominance of European standards and values imposed through colonization. His approach merged European modernist elements with Brazil's unique historical, social, and environmental contexts, blending indigenous, Afro-Brazilian, and local cultural expressions. His Summer Suit, a garment designed for comfort in tropical climates and a critique of restrictive Western attire, exemplified this principle, as did his architectural works, such as the lighthouse project.
The lighthouse embodied Carvalho's anthropophagic ethos incorporating modern materials and forms while drawing heavily from pre-Columbian cultures. This synthesis was not about appropriation, but about creating new cultural expressions, harmonizing local traditions with global modernist ideals and through architectural forms that at times also seemed to evoke the architectures of Antonio Sant'Elia (think about Sant'Elia's towering skyscrapers, power plants and futurist stations for trains and airplanes).
Going through Carvahlo's projects and his concept of anthropophagy could inspire fields beyond architecture, including fashion: the project for the lighthouse in particular with its forms and patterns could maybe inspire new ways to blend and reimagine traditional elements with a contemporary perspective and apply them in areas such as knitwear design.
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