L ina Bo Bardi moved from Italy to Brazil in the 1940s and was profoundly influenced by her new environment of South America. She soon translated the formal rules of European Modernist design into the Latin American vernacular, creating a fusion of styles which became her own very individual language. Notably, she designed The São Paulo Museum of Art, a striking landmark of glass and concrete that floats eight metres from the ground.
Now, the museum will explore Bo Bardi’s life and career in a show taking its name from the trend-setting arts magazine, Habitat, which she co-founded with her husband in 1950; its progressive ethos underscores the displays of Bo Bardi’s most significant projects, such as the seminal design of her Glass House, and guides viewers through the narrative of her personal history and the resonance of her cultural vision.
Lina Bo Bardi: Habitat is on view at MASP through 28 July.