The Pedregulho Housing Complex ( Portuguese: ''Conjunto Residencial Prefeito Mendes de Moraes'', commonly known as Pedregulho) is an

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

complex and planned community in the Benfica neighborhood of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It was designed by the architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy (1909-1964). The project was planned in 1946 to house lower-paid civil servants of the city, which was then the Federal District of Brazil. Work commenced on the complex in 1949 and inaugurated in 1951/1952.

Location and design

The Pedregulho Housing Complex is located on a hill called Pedregulho, from which it takes its name. It was followed by other public housing works by Reidy, which included the Gávea Residential Unit (1952) and the Armando Gonzaga Theater in the planned neighborhood of

Marechal Hermes Marechal Hermes is a planned working-class neighborhood located in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, founded on May 1, 1913. Surrounding neighborhoods include Bento Ribeiro, Campo dos Afonsos, Deodoro and Guadalupe. It takes its name ...

(1950). The principles and aesthetics of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

are evident in the buildings; the curved lines, undulating designs, arches, and domes recall the design of

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

's Pampulha project in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

Apartment building

The main apartment building consists of a long, serpentine block suspended above

pilotis Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in elev ...

. 272 units are placed on seven stories. Reidy attempted to provide a view of Guanabara Bay from each apartment unit. The single entrance to the building is via two gangplanks that lead to the third floor; its location at the middle of the building mitigated the need for elevators. The first and second floor consist of single-level studio apartments with a view to the city. The third floor is reserved for administrative offices, a children's theater, nursery, and kindergarten. The upper levels contain two-story family units accessed from the fourth and sixth floors; the main living quarters are on the lower level and bedrooms on the upper level. Two smaller apartment blocks sit below the main apartment building to the south. These consist of duplex apartments and open to Rua Lopes Trovão.

Additional buildings

The complex, in its original form, included a public services building, shopping center, children's garden, nursery, primary school, sports courts, gymnasium, swimming pool, and health center. The gymnasium strongly resembles the parabolic structure of Niemeyer's

Church of Saint Francis of Assisi The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (''Igreja de Sao Francisco de Assis'', commonly known as the ''Igreja da Pampulha'') is a chapel in Pampulha region of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It was designed by t ...

in Pampulha. Like the church at Pampulha it features a large-scale

azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, resta ...

mosaic by Candido Portinari on its street-facing façade.

Reception

The Pedregulho Housing Complex was well received at the time of its completion. It won first prize at the International Architecture Competition at the 1st Biennial of São Paulo in 1951. It was admired by European architects, notably

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmith ...

in 1953 and by

during his tour of Brazil in 1962. The architect and writer Alfredo Britto considers the complex "one of the great symbols of Brazilian modern architecture."

Status

The housing complex of Pedregulho suffers from great dilapidation and its current condition has been described as " favela-like." In contrast, the school, gymnasium, and swimming pool of the complex retain their original purpose and remain in good condition. The azuleijo mosaic by Portinari remains in its original condition. The complex was registered as a cultural property in 2011 by the State of

References

{{Authority control Affonso Eduardo Reidy buildings Apartment buildings Modernist architecture in Brazil Residential buildings completed in 1951 1951 establishments in Brazil