A close look at the building facades in many Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, reveals that the use of aluminum frames is highly common and popular in Brazil. Adopted across a wide range of building typologies, including residential and commercial projects, and in various formats such as doors, windows, and railings, these versatile structures are widely used in construction, representing about 80% of the total volume of aluminum consumed by the sector in the country. But why, after all, have aluminum frames become so widely used in Brazilian cities?
Until the 1950s, the use of aluminum in Brazilian construction was virtually nonexistent. Researcher Magda Reis points out that the construction of Brasília—the new federal capital built at the end of that decade—was the major catalyst for its initial adoption. This period marked not only a moment of great development for modernist architecture in the country, especially regarding technical innovations, but also technological advancement for many of the material's manufacturers. In 1970, the Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL) was founded in São Paulo, signaling greater organization and structure within the country's industrial sector. Today, Brazil is among the world's largest aluminum producers, trailing only China, Russia, Canada, the United States, and Australia.
