As casas unifamiliares de Carlos Millan

HOUSES OF CARLOS MILLAN The architect from São Paulo, Carlos Barjas Millan, was part of the first generation of architects graduated in architecture schools in São Paulo. He lived a short life (1927-1964), which was abbreviated by a tragic car accident at 37. His work, however, was intense for 15 years between the 50s and the 60s and is relevant until today in the modern Brazilian architecture scene. Graduated at Mackenzie University, he acted in class entities such as IAB (Brazilian Architect’s Institute) and CREA (Regional Council of Engineering, Architecture and Agronomy); had a teaching career at Mackenzie and USP Universities; was a partner of a contemporary furniture store; acted politically within the Dominican Church; and, above all, dedicated himself intensely to architecture, with an output of approximately 70 projects including built and unbuilt. The vast majority of those projects was for one-family houses of many different types – either isolated, conjugated, refurbished, urban or not urban – for all sorts of clients, in different lots, projects done either with partners or by Millan individually; many of them recognized until today by their architectural value. After his passing away, his project archive was donated to the FAU-USP library. But, perhaps for the briefness of his existence, little of his work was actually published. Relevant citations include: two academic dissertations of PhD and Master (FAGGIN, 1992 and MATERA, 2005, respectively); publications in the journals Acrópole (numbers 317 and 332) and AU (number 54); some publications on São Paulo architecture that include houses designed by him (ACAYABA, 2011; XAVIER; LEMOS; CORONA, 1983); some texts available online (CAMARGO, 2013), etc.; aside from a bulk of material about the “Brutalismo Paulista” movement (ZEIN, SANVITTO, ACAYABA, FUÃO, etc.). His best known houses about which more was published are the following three: Roberto Millan (1960), winner of an award at the IV Bienal de São Paulo; Nadyr de Oliveira (1960); and Antônio D’Elboux (196264). All of these projects can be placed in the final phase of his short career, when his work presented clear characteristics of an architecture school being formed in São Paulo in the 50s and 60s and whose production was known as “Brutalismo Paulista”. The architect Villanova Artigas, Professor at FAU-USP, is considered the main exponent of this school of architecture. The objective of this paper is to briefly glance at Millan’s one-family residence production, since its origins in the 50s, when the first houses were proposed, until the 60s, which represented his more mature phase. Generally with roofs, eaves, added volumes and plans, his initial homes had influences derived from Wright, Neutra, Breuer and Rino Levi. Around the end of the 50s, with the Oliva Feitosa house (1957), a transformation may be observed that is only accentuated in the 60s, with the use of flat roofs and certain materials, techniques and strategies that then become recurrent. The focus of this work will be his one-family house designs of the 60s, begun with the aforementioned house for his brother, Roberto Millan, and ended by his Lagoinha Beach House for Mario Masetti (1964). This series of houses may be regarded as part of the “Brutalismo Paulista” movement, but possesses peculiarities particular to Carlos Millan, known for his projects’ high levels of detail. Aside from other contemporary São Paulo architects, among them Artigas, this phase in Millan’s work is influenced by international masters, especially Le Corbusier. Carlos Millan’s main houses of the 1960-64 period will be analyzed both from a formal as well as a compositional perspective, considering the following criteria: volume, plan, base, crowning, supporting structure, constructive elements and materials, without overlooking the sites, programs as well as influences observed. Within the aforementioned examples that will be analyzed, certain similarities and variables are sought, using the materials collected in the bibliography quoted above as a source.