Zeuler R.M.A. Lima is the winner of the Bruno Zevi Prize 2007

After careful appraisal of the essays submitted, the jury, composed of Jean-Luois Cohen, Zvi Hecker, Alessandra Muntoni, Antonino Saggio, Dennis Sharp, were unanimous in selecting Towards Simple Architecture by Zeuler R.M.A. Lima as the winning entry.
The text, which explores the relationship between theory and architecture in the work of Lina Bo Bardi, is developed with methodical clarity and of great interest as regards content. It follows the scarlet thread connecting Lina Bo Bardi’s experiences in Italy and in Brazil through her intense discussions with Bruno Zevi, with whom she maintained close relations even after leaving for South
America.

Lima offers a convincing elucidation of Bo Bardi’s deep and immediate harmony with Brazilian culture and argues that the cross-fertilization of “arquitetura pobre” drawn from the sensibility of primitive culture – the caipira or peasant identity of the São Paulo region – and “cultured architecture” of
European derivation endows Lina Bo Bardi’s work with major ethical and political value.
The third component of this hybridization lay in the African roots of the community in Bahia, in harmony with which she ultimately overcame the dualism of her Italian origins and her choice to settle in Brazil to arrive at the conclusive revelation of her own African identity: “Eu sono africana”.

The Brazilian-born architect Zeuler Lima is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis.