Instituto de Educação de Pernambuco

This work intends to revisit the architectural design of the Institute of Education of Pernambuco, located in the city of Recife. Designed and constructed between the years of 1956 and 1958, the project was awarded first place in a competition sponsored by the Institute of Architects of Brazil. The winners, the architects Marcos Domingues and Carlos Correia Lima, were then recent graduates from the School of Fine Arts of Recife (1949-1954). The group of edifications is characterized by constructive solutions that attempt to adapt the language of modern architecture to the local climate, including economical concerns, functionality and, especially, the search for a new aesthetic form. This analysis will focus on the processes utilized in the design development of the design and construction of the architectonic group. In this way, we will identify the influence of architects such as Niemeyer, on the general plastic of the edifications with exposed columns and on the composition of facades, and of Richard Neutra, on the formal composition of the group, favoring the use of natural illumination and ventilation for classrooms and leisure spaces, and the integration of internal and external spaces. Formal relations will be identified in all types of analysis to be performed during the design process: • Deployment (relationship between constructed and non-constructed spaces); • Modular (relationship between structure and distribution of the program); • Volumes (relationship among volumes from different points-of-view); • Floor plans (relationship between order and visual equilibrium); • Functional (relationship between form and function); Finally, the constructive analysis, being explained through the redrawn of details: the structure, the closings and finishings. Using the limited documentation available, the work will reconstitute the IEP through drawings and photos in an attempt to demonstrate the significance of this architectonic group on the consolidation of the modern Recife architecture.