From bottom to top: Marco Antonio, Paquito - Acervo GEDES/ Sesc Memórias
“All restoration work used industrial components, heavy-duty and durable materials (floors, large wooden gates, hardwood laminate furniture), so that people can make use of them as freely as possible in all [Sesc] facilities. “The initial idea for refurbishing involved architectural ‘arte povera’—not in the ‘impoverished’ sense of the term, but the craftsmanship that conveys a sense of maximum communication and dignity through the littlest and most unpretentious means.” (LBB) The dividing walls separating the studios from the workshop building were made from concrete blocks to mark the difference between the factory’s original clay-brick architecture and today’s interventions. They were made low to encourage a certain communication between different working groups and interaction across arts and crafts.
For the studios, Lina Bo Bardi laid concrete blocks with exposed mortar honoring the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck (Sonsbeek Sculpture Pavilion). The reference is to what architects call ‘truth of materials,’ meaning that a structure’s final appearance should faithfully portray materials used and the process of its construction.