ABSTRACT
The development of ferrocement in Brazil cannot be dissociated from the works of the architect João Filgueiras Lima, popularly known as Lelé (1932–2014). Renamed as argamassa armada by a group of engineers from São Carlos in the 1960s—to make a clear distinction from Nervi’s ferrocemento – the construction material was used in an innovative way in the 1980s in cities like Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and Salvador. This paper analyses Lelé’s use of argamassa armada and the way in which he assigned a social role to slender and lightweight components. In this context, transient prefabricated schools and some of their key components allow us to discern the motivations behind the architect’s innovations, which matter much more than the material’s mechanical properties.
