Brazil architects directory

(Image credit: Ellie Stathaki)

Brazil has one of the world's great modernist heritages, an expansive legacy that stems from the intense cultural cross-pollination that occurred in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Brazil's embrace of the International Style side-stepped its more oblique and staid applications in favour of something more baroque and exuberant, a country where concrete's structural potential was unleashed without compromise.

Yet the sheer volume of modernist works - Oscar Niemeyer alone built over 500 buildings - weighs heavy on the younger generation; should they evolve the undeniably innovative aesthetic of the past or should they strike out in new directions?

Today the country faces major infrastructural challenges, ongoing urban regeneration and a spirited private residential scene. Wallpaper has canvassed ten studios at the cutting edge of the contemporary scene to bring you a directory of the very best of Brazilian architecture now.

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.

With contributions from

Ellie Stathaki