Lina Bo Bardi is one of the twentieth century’s most iconic architects, known for her humanistic approach that always connected architectural design, intellectual reflection and artistic practice. This cultivated vision, oriented towards an architecture meant to be fully inhabited, developed further in Brazil through exposure to folk art and culture that led her to design projects with true social meaning and deep anthropological roots.

In 1939, L. Bo earned an architecture degree in Rome after presenting plans for a maternity and childcare centre for single mothers. She then opened a studio in Milan with her former classmate Carlo Pagani (1913–1999). Together they launched editorial projects for journals published by Giò Ponti (1891–1979), such as Domus, Lo Stile and Bellezza, and for women’s magazines including Grazia, for which they wrote a recurring feature titled ‘La Casa’. With G. Ponti, L. Bo also helped design the stands at the seventh edition of the Triennale di Milano (1940–1943). During the war, she contributed actively to discussions on Italy’s reconstruction, she also took part in the cultural association Movimento Studi per l’Architettura, wrote for the newspaper Milano Sera and founded the journal A-Attualità, Architettura, Abitazione, Arte [Current Events, Architecture, Housing and Art] with C. Pagani and Bruno Zevi (1918–2000).

Her marriage to art critic Pietro Maria Bardi and their travels through South America would change her life. Arriving in Rio de Janeiro in November 1946, the couple became acquainted with Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand, who invited them to help found a modern art museum. They agreed, and the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) opened its doors in 1947. At the same time, with Giancarlo Palanti (1906–1977) and Valeria Piacentini Cirell (dates unknown), they also founded Studio d’Arte Palma and Oficina Paubré. Then, in 1950, they launched Habitat: Revista das Artes no Brasil [Habitat: A Magazine of Brazilian Art].

In 1951, L. Bo Bardi became a Brazilian citizen and designed Casa de Vidro in a São Paulo suburb. This project marked the start of her architecture career. In 1958 she executed her second building, Casa Piacentini-Cirell, and settled in Salvador in the state of Bahia, where in 1963 she became director of the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia.

The seven years she spent in Salvador proved a new turning point in L. Bo Bardi’s intellectual vision and architectural poetry. She was an active figure in Bahia’s avant-garde circles, designing scenarios for the theatre and cinema, publishing in Salvador’s Diario de Notícias and organising exhibitions of folk art. Most significantly, she renovated Solar do Unhão, a former sugar factory. In 1963 it reopened as the Museu de Arte Popular and the Centro de Estudo do Trabalho Artesanal, a school devoted to the creation of artisanal folk-art objects.

In 1964, after the military dictatorship began, L. Bo Bardi returned to São Paulo, where she designed an iconic new building (opening in 1968) for MASP. She continued to focus on the art of Brazil’s Nordeste region, organising exhibitions such as A Mão do Povo Brasileiro [The Hand of the Brazilian People, 1969] at MASP. Suspected of subversive activities, she relocated to Italy for a time (1971–1973), but returned to Brazil after being proven innocent. She then executed various major projects, including SESC Pompéia (1977–1986), a flagship example of her socially conscious, ‘humble’ architecture, as well as other designs incorporating folk art, such as the Espírito Santo do Cerrado church in Uberlândia (1974–1985), the Santa Maria dos Anjos chapel in Ubiúna (1977–1978) and residential buildings for the Camurupim Cooperative Community in Propriá (1975). In 1986 she went back to Salvador to work on the restoration plan for the historic Pelourinho district, renovating the Gregório de Mattos theatre, Casa de Benin, Ladeira da Misericórdia and Casa Olodum.

L. Bo Bardi died in 1992, just after completing Teatro Oficina (1984–1991) and while working on the Brazilian Pavilion for the Universal Exhibition of Seville. She left behind a body of work that has gained international recognition, notably earning her the Golden Lion of the 2021 Venice Biennale, a distinction that proves her cultural impact and major contribution to contemporary architecture.