Architype Dialogue presents

Gustavo Penna

What was the most difficult issue about working on a building that focuses on religion, or the most unexpected challenge that may have influenced new thought in your project?

I didn’t want to face this theme as a difficulty, I just looked at it the most natural way possible.  My thoughts had lots to do with the simple gestures, those that can’t evoke further meanings.  I went with the horizontal and vertical lines, because they are reminiscent of mankind and the connection between the earth and the sky, and they form a sheltering cross that blends itself to the world.

Did this project expand or evolve your role as an architect in any way? In general, do you feel that the role of the architect is changing on current projects?

I think this project stays aligned to the notion of a poetic concept that leads to a formal solution.  That’s the path I’ve been walking.  After all, being an architect is and has always been about interpreting the other’s dreams and needs.

How is your design aesthetic possible today in a way that it may not have been before and how have trends in technology and society inspired new thought and solutions?

Answered through questions 2 and 4.

In the context of this project, how is your office and design process being influenced by current trends in academic curricula and incoming young architects? In turn, how are current projects and processes guiding the ongoing reformulation and development of academic curricula?

I have always let myself be influenced by everything that surrounds me.  I’m not at all impermeable.  All human beings are looking for their complements, and companionship, and love.  I think that self-sufficient people are just unbearable and ridiculous.  To live is to change.  But, now, I don’t know if my way of thinking influences anyone. Would this really be so important?