Além da Arquitetura: pioneirismo e legado na atuação profissional do arquiteto Neudson Braga

This article discusses the pioneering spirit and the legacy of architect Neudson Braga not through the buildings he designed, but his performance in another construction equally or more important: the construction of the profession itself. Together with the traditional practice of office, the architect has always had a very intense professional activity in two other areas: academic and politic. Professor Emeritus of Ceará Federal University, he was one of the founders of the School of Architecture and Urbanism of this institution in 1964, and is also responsible for the formation of most architects from Ceará that are still active. The valuation and documentation of his legacy in these fields are essential, because unlike his works, this collection cannot be demolished, but only forgotten. This article will show two moments of the career of the architect that exemplify this, considered the most important: the first, more connected to his academic and political action, is the key role that the architect exercised in 1968 at the reopening of the Central Institute of Arts and the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (ICA-FAU) of the University of Brasília (UnB) during the military dictatorship, when brokered a tense and complex process in defense of the interests of students and the profession; the second, more linked to professional practice office, describes his participation in the contest sponsored by the IAB for the new headquarters of the Banco do Nordeste, Fortaleza, in the 70s, which he participated not with a project, but with a letter, which foresaw many problems relating to the contest guidelines. Both examples represent different fields of work just to represent a single coherent ethical stance of the architect, that always backed his practice and had great influence on his career.