Bruno Campos is a Brazilian Architect who has collaborated with various architects in Brazil and New York before establishing BCMF ARQUITETOS (since 2001) associated to Marcelo Fontes. The biggest inspiration for his career is New York City, in which he dreams to build a skyscraper. He was gracious enough to take time from his busy schedule for an interview with Architecture Caribbean. Enjoy!
Architecture Caribbean:
What is your firms design philosophy? What led you to do establish your own firm?
Bruno Campos: We don’t have a very rigorous theoretical or technical approach. We can recognize some constant themes, interests and obsessions in our work, but we hardly think about it in a very systematic or ideological way. All I can say is that we always try to be imaginative and critical, and do our best at whatever job is on our desk, regardless of scale, typology or budget.
If you want to be an Architect in Brazil, there is no other option (but to establish your own firm).
AC: How would you define successful design?
BC: The ones that are really innovative, and those that can survive the passing of time and/or changes without losing its power.
Rio2007 Pan-American Games - Shooting Center
AC: How do you approach your projects? How do you begin?
BC: It is a quite chaotic process. We can begin anywhere. It might be the program, the site, a section, an image, the budget, a detail. We don’t usually follow a script, but there is a method. We always tend to identify one single major issue as “the main problem” to be solved, and the rest follows eventually.
AC: What feeds your creativity during the design process; (sketching, building physical models, computer programs); what is your main technique for exploring your designs? BC: We sketch all the way through, and we like to build physical and computer models simultaneously, since they serve different purposes (one for the outside and the other for the inside). We like also to sketch on the study models, cutting it, breaking or attaching pieces to it. I think it is a rather conventional and traditional process. We haven’t used the computer fully as a real design tool yet, as in some parametric oriented design practices, for instance.
Great Egyptian Museum
AC: How does the way of life/ culture in Brazil affect the layout and organization of projects, and cities?
BC: Brazil is full of dualities, contrasts, paradoxes and ambiguities. It is part of its charm, for sure, but the urban landscape can become a wild mixture and a mess. We try to acknowledge and deal with that without being too literal or stiff about it, without necessarily celebrating it (exaggerating it) or going against it (fixing it).
AC: Are there any characteristics that define Brazilian Architecture? What conditions, (elements, climate), must you take into consideration when designing a project in Brazil? BC: We are very interested in the merging of the “transition spaces”, between inside and outside, private and public, and also in the “left-over spaces”, or unplanned areas, with unpredicted functions. But it is probably more a contemporary condition rather than a Brazilian or a personal thing.
AC: What do you read and/ or do for inspiration? BC: I don’t know, but maybe to remind me of certain things, every now and then I read the same ‘manifestos’ again. I like specially “The function of the oblique” (Claude Parent and Paul Virilio), “Razões da nova arquitetura” (Lúcio Costa), “What ever happened to urbanism” (R. Koolhaas) and even “The Fountainhead”, Howard Roark’s speech at his trial…
AC: I found your Great Egyptian Museum and Shooting Center Projects enriching. How does it tie in to your design philosophy? BC: Coincidentally, both The Great Egyptian Museum (with Carlos Teixeira and Fernando Lara) and the Shooting Center (with Marcelo Fontes and Silvio Todeschi) are all about circulation and organizing flows of people, and their sections probably explain more than the plans. To “plug” separate clusters of functions into a “clean” circulation spine is something we do repeatedly, from hospitals to residences. It is almost as if we were turning the program diagram’s literally into the building.
Great Egyptian Museum
AC: What was the most challenging part of the two projects? BC: For the Shooting Center, built for the 2007 Pan-american Games in Rio, it was definitely the very specific program and regulations. As for the GEM, an open competition, the uniqueness and significance of the whole context and program.
AC: Who are your favorite Architects & Planners (Brazilian and International), and what do you admire about their work? BC: There are so many I admire. All of the Japanese, for instance. But for the sake of simplicity and for the same reason (both radically innovative and revolutionary) my two favorites of the week: Sérgio Bernardes (1919-2002) and Rem Koolhaas.
AC: Have you ever been to any Caribbean islands, if yes, where and what do you think of Caribbean Architecture? BC: Unfortunately I’ve never been there, but in 2007 I got unexpectedly involved in the concept design of a luxury resort and some villas in Bahamas (Highborne Cay, Exuma Islands), at S V Koder Architects, NY. Incredible site and beautiful landscape, it was a great experience; I enjoyed a lot working with Selim Koder and his team for such a project.
AC: What do you think about Architecture Caribbean and its goal to highlight Architecture, Urban Planning and Visual Arts in the Caribbean and other parts of the world? BC: I think it is a shame we don’t have something similar in Brazil.
AC: Thanks for the interview, any final thoughts? BC: Well, maybe it is unnecessary, but I just want to remind everybody that Lúcio Costa was the one who actually conceived the urban planning of Brasília. Niemeyer “only” designed the buildings (it is a “detail” some people often forget). Thank you, it was fun.
Architecture Caribbean would like to thank Bruno for sharing his work and shedding some light on architecture in Brazil. We look forward to staying in touch Bruno and BCMF, and staying abreast of their work. Thanks again!
