Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/641424
Whether you celebrate postwar architecture as the seed of mainstream contemporary design or dismiss its idealism, chances are that you view it as a discrete event: established in 1945 and ending in 1965, give or take a few years. For Brazilian architect and filmmaker Marcio Kogan, midcentury modernism is not nearly so finite. The São Paulo–based founder of Studio MK27 has realized a wide-ranging portfolio of homes, commercial spaces and other projects fluent in the startling geometric compositions, environmental strategies and authentic materials of Lina Bo Bardi or Roberto Burle Marx. Because Kogan's body of work underscores the novelty and intelligence of the country's Modernist heritage without avoiding the demands of contemporary life, Studio MK27 has earned more than 200 national and global awards and numerous commissions outside Brazil's borders. A few weeks before Miami-based developer Terra Group announced Kogan's latest international project— Summerhill—the architect responded candidly to our queries about Brazilian Modernism and his other influences. Is it risky to embrace your midcentury heritage so vocally? The creation of a common vocabulary between local and international culture is very much a characteristic of Brazilian modern architecture and that is always in our work, like a ghost that hangs on and doesn't want to leave. But, I like this ghost. It was a magical time: How could a developing country produce such good work? Le Corbusier's Ministry of Education and Health building in Rio de Janeiro was an important part of this process, and so was the incredible work headed by Lúcio Costa, which mixed the teachings of Le Corbusier with the sensuality and creativity of Brazil. We had the dream of a modern country, with no traditions and the desire to do something new. Today, we are merely continuing this magical moment in a more contemporary and technological manner. 210 CULTURED PHOTO BY NELSON KON; PORTRAIT BY ©ROMULO FIALDINI Built on an island in the Paraty region of Brazil, Casa Paraty juts out from the mountainside to cantilever over the beach.