Sérgio Ferro au prisme d’une histoire brésilienne(re-)lire Dessin-chantier

Abstract

Exiled in France since 1972, Sérgio Ferro (born in 1938) influenced teaching and research within the architectural school of Grenoble during 30 years. He is the author of Dessin-chantier (2005, éd. de la Villette), a troubling book based both on a radical criticism of architectural production conditions and orignal proposals for a professional emancipatory practice. Sérgio Ferro’s biographical path still quite unknown in France but appears yet essential to understand his complex work. This path is the story of three young architects from Sao Paulo who graduated during the construction of Brasilia, whose architectural and theoretical contribution took place in Brazil during the 60’s; the story of a politically left intellectual and artistic vanguard, torn between modernity and under-development, social transformation prospect and opposition towards the military regime after 1964. Based on the account of this biographical path, the article offers a brazilian point of view on Dessin-chantier, evokes the way in which Ferro’s theoretical work continue to be discussed in Brazil and then, highlights its basic political dimension.

Keywords

• Architecture
• Brazil
• Sérgio Ferro
• Construction site
• 1960’s