Casa Modernista: A History of the Brazil Modern House
by: Alan Hess, Alan Weintraub, et al.

Hardcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 324 pages. A rediscovery of one of the most powerful schools of Modernism. On the one hand sensual and warm, on the other rational yet rhythmic, Brazilian Modernism is the soulful alternative to its European parent, better known for theoretical rigor and cold precision. Using the modern materials of concrete and reinforced glass, as well as wood and steel, Brazilians brought to Modernism an unspoken philosophy that allowed for the free flow of nature and built forms, so that the one was not dominated by the other but rather embraced by it. The undulating and amorphous buildings of Oscar Niemeyer are perhaps the best known expressions of this philosophy, in which the typical straight line of Europe's Modern home becomes a graceful arabesque. The story of the Brazil Modern house is a tradition, a great flowering of talents and vision and a revealing new experience of Modernism, that until now has not been properly documented. Casa Modernista is the first volume to comprehensively cover this extraordinary architecture. Within its pages is featured not only the work of Niemeyer, but also that of all the most important modern architects of this extremely rich, multifaceted nation, including Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Jorge Machado Moreira, Carlos Leao, Alvaro Vital Brazil, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Joao Walter Toscano, and Abrahao Sanovicz.