Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book traces the elaboration process of the fortunate cultural strategies through which Costa built a theoretical framework capable of bridging the gap between past and present, legitimising the “new tradition” of modern architecture as a new alleged expression of the “authentic evolutionary line” of Brazilian national architecture. It focuses on the years 1930 and 1931, marked by his first important public engagement within the New Republic of Getulio Vargas: the direction of the National School of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro. The book addresses the years between 1935 and 1937, during which he undertook the two prestigious public assignments from Gustavo Capanema, minister of Education at the time, destined to mark a turning point in his career: the new seat for the Ministry of Education and Public Health, and the campus of the Universidade do Brasil, both in Rio.