Luís Saia e o restauro do sítio Santo Antônio : diálogos modernos na conformação arquitetônica paulista

Abstract

Immersed in Brazil s modernist ideal of the second quarter of the 20th century, in the mid-1930s, Luís Saia began his intense practical and intellectual production on the study, defense and contribution to the country s material heritage while still a student in the engineering and architectural degree course at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. This work was undertaken alongside respected figures, such as: Dina Lévi-Strauss, Mário de Andrade, Rodrigo Mello Franco de Andrade and Lúcio Costa, in addition to the impact and influence of other well-known characters in architectural practice and theory, including: João Batista Vilanova Artigas, Eduardo Kneese de Mello, Lina Bo Bardi and Nestor Goulart Reis Filho, among others. Starting with this brief context, this paper first aims to identify and present the topics of most relevance to the São Paulo-based architect s professional trajectory taking an encompassing, horizontal approach to his work. There is then a closer look at the actions Saia carried out for the monument titled Sítio Santo Antônio, located in the city of São Roque, through a detailed study of the issues regarding the restoration of this paradigmatic, rural monument from the 17th century that allows the detection and deeper understanding, from excerpts of existing documents and official letters, of part of the dialogues held between the important figures involved in the project. There is a focus on the modern thinking and ideologies that helped encourage the debate surrounding the architectural heritage in the state of São Paulo and at the national level.