Design and Science, from the Bauhaus to Neotropical Research at USP The Trajectory of Marta Erps-Breuer

Abstract

This article analyzes the trajectory of designer and scientist Marta Erps-Breuer (Frankfurt, Germany, 1902 - São Paulo, Brazil, 1977) from her training at the Bau- haus to the work she performed at the Department of Genetics and Evolution- ary Biology at the University of São Paulo where she contributed to pioneering research from the 1930s to the 1970s. We have mapped three axes that lead us to understand her trajectory: the training and workspaces she occupied; the mi- gration from Germany to Brazil; and the social relations she established. Gender studies, which permeate our theoretical and methodological approach, provided us with fundamental contributions in the search for available sources and in the interpretation of the materials found. From this perspective, we seek through Marta's journey to make explicit the challenges present in the documentation of women’s work in the field of design.

Keywords

• history of design
• gender studies
• marta erps-breuer
• bauhaus
• university of são paulo