Within the span of a year, Brazil saw two of its greatest architectural archives leave the country: that of Paulo Mendes da Rocha in September 2020, and that of Lucio Costa in October 2021. Both were donated to the Casa da Arquitectura in Portugal. Together, they total around 20,000 items. These announcements sparked a heated debate regarding the preservation of such documents, the role of the Portuguese institution, and what must be done to keep remaining archives in Brazil.
In this episode, which marks the beginning of the second season of the Betoneira Podcast, the team speaks with two professionals involved in this discussion—José Lira, a professor at FAU-USP, and Nuno Sampaio, director of the Casa da Arquitectura—to understand the origins and consequences of this movement.
