Elizabeth de Portzamparc | |
---|---|
Born | Elizabeth Jardim Neves Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Nationality | French / Brazilian |
Occupation | Architect |
Elizabeth de Portzamparc is a French-Brazilian architect.[1]
Born in Rio de Janeiro,[2] de Portzamparc developed an early passion for art. Her father, who was from Belo Horizonte and was passionate about architecture, regularly took her to Pampulha Art Museum and talked to her about the "genius Oscar Niemeyer," who he knew and admired. Motivated by Iberê Camargo, a friend of her parents, Elizabeth started to practice conceptual art in her youth. She studied at the schools Sacred Heart of Jesus, Santa Ursula, and Brasileiro de Almeida. After graduating, de Portzamparc then passed the "vestibular" exams and entered the PUC (Pontifical Catholic University) faculty in Rio, but soon discontinued as she wished to leave the country.[citation needed]
Later on, in France, simultaneously to her studies in anthropology, urban sociology (Paris V), and regional planning (IEDES-Paris I), she dedicated herself exclusively to urban themes. Specifically, she worked on new towns, the work of the Institut d'aménagement et d'urbanisme de la région d'Île-de-France (IAURIF; now the IAU), and particularly the urbanism workshop of the Antony commune. There, in 1977–78, she conducted pioneering studies on the concepts of "neighbourhoods/sub-neighbourhoods", bringing the notions of "local life" and territorial links to the center of the founding principles of territorial planning policies.[3]
In 1980, she became qualified to teach in French architecture schools, and taught in the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture of Paris-Val de Seine (UP9) between 1984 and 1988.[citation needed]
De Portzamparc worked on a research project entitled Extension de la Démocratie Locale, published in 1982, for the French Ministry of Environment and Quality of Life. In 1984, she carried an operational research project for the French Ministry of the Equipment, by creating the first inter-communal urbanism structure for the project of the South Paris "Coulée verte". This research was later developed and completed by the IAURIF.[citation needed]
De Portzamparc designed the "24 hours" desk, which was exhibited at the 1985 Decorator Artist's Fair and at the Cartier Foundation during the exhibition called MDF, des créateurs pour un matériau (MDF, creators for a material). The piece was received well,and was then acquired by the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain.[citation needed]
In 1986, she opened and managed the Mostra gallery in Paris. Surrounded by artists, designers and architects such as Jean Nouvel, Rem Koolhaas, Christian de Portzamparc, François Rouan, Pierre Buraglio, Arata Isozaki, Bernar Venet, and Peter Klasen, among others, she questioned the creative approach proper to architects, artists and contemporary furniture designers of that time. Consequently, through themed exhibitions, she developed a profusion of unique ideas showing very clearly the specificities of each creative field, which brought her to the headlines of many French and international magazines and put her gallery on the podium of the best Parisian galleries.
In 1987, she created her own architectural agency, which is since then characterized by many projects touching different levels of development.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
In 1989, de Portzamparc won the contest for the design of the Information Center of the French National Assembly,.[10] In 1992, she won the contest for the museography project of the Korean National Museum, for which she created a museographic urban path, based on a circuit of interior streets that extend to the exterior public spaces, going through the exhibition rooms.
In 1995, De Portzamparc created the museography for the Museum of Brittany, in Rennes, for which she also designed a library, interior open squares and spaces for children. De Portzamparc stated that this work was a crystallisation of her style, and that she acquired inspiration from urban morphology to create interior "urban spaces" that hosted the different historical cycles. The scenography of the first sequences were installed in spaces that are reminiscent of buildings and public squares, the following ones were organised in spaces laid out like a street, and the exhibits of the two world wars were presented in a tunnel, symbolising the darkness of this period of history. The ongoing contemporary time was installed in an open, interactive and scalable forum.[citation needed]
In 1997, De Portzamparc won a contest to design the stations and furniture of the Bordeaux metropolitan tramway network. She created the stations as public squares in the city based on the ideas of transparency, lighting, and velocity, aiming to create a metropolitan identity.
Her other projects have included the Musée de la Romanité de Nîmes, the Grand Documentary Equipment of the Condorcet Campus in Aubervilliers and the Le Bourget railway station of Le Bourget.[11][12]
De Portzamparc currently carries out her research at the Atelier International du Grand Paris, researching about the identity of places, the local life and the territorial links, fundamental contributions to the reflections on the construction of cities. In this same context, she has made various propositions for sustainable, flexible, mixed-use and prefabricated housing, with low costs and quick construction time. De Portzamparc has been working since 2004 on designing housing for homeless and vulnerable individuals in need of accommodation.[13]