The Conservation of the Vilanova Artigas Building: A Long Journey

This text explores conservation issues of the Vilanova Artigas Building, headquarters of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU), University of São Paulo. The aim is to shed light on the institutional approach to maintenance and preventive conservation issues surrounding the building. Renown in Brazilian architecture, the building is a paradigm of educational architecture and a distinguished example of São Paulo’s brutalism. With its bold design—both spatially and structurally—the building has faced continuous challenges, particularly water infiltration, which have been ongoing concerns for the FAU administration. This paper begins by examining the architectural characteristics of the building and its recurrent maintenance issues. It then explores the institution’s shift from reactive problem-solving to a proactive approach, emphasizing the understanding of root causes to prevent future issues, culminating in the Participatory Master Plan. The text then analyzes the outcomes of this plan and proceeds to scrutinize the characteristics of proposals put forward under the Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern initiative. This initiative enabled something that is rare in Brazil: systematic research on the building, its documentation, current condition, materials, construction systems, and pathological manifestations for conservation purposes. The ensuing analysis of the plan’s results involves a discussion of the gap between FAU’s ability to conduct studies and formulate proposals and its ability to implement these proposals in practice. This examination sheds light on the challenges in bridging the divide between theoretical advancements and practical implementation within the realm of the Vilanova Artigas Building conservation efforts.