REBELS WITH A CAUSE: ALDO VAN EYCK AND PANCHO GUEDES
How o ind a meaning o he ac o buil
Ana Tos ões
Chai o Docomomo In e na ional
Full P o esso , Técnico – Uni e si y o Lisbon, Po ugal
Abs ac
This pape aims o look a an uncommonly c i ical a i ude agains he bu eauc a ic
unc ionalism in o ce wi hin a kind o In e na ional S yle, de eloping an au hen ically
mode n and human a chi ec u e in he scope o he Team 10’s ba le. Conside ing Aldo
an Eyck (1918-1999) and Pancho Guedes’ (1925-2015) wo ks and hough s, hei pa allel
pa hs, some imes c ossed, a e analysed: hey we e bo h pa o Team 10 and hey bo h
de ined a chi ec u e as he “buil meaning”, ecalling i s mul iple meanings, languages and
esponsibili ies: ‘I claim o a chi ec s he igh s and libe ies ha pain e s and poe s ha e
held o so long’.
Aldo an Eyck, om he s udies on he sub-Saha an Dogon egion o he PREVI p oposals
in Pe u, and Pancho Guedes, om he su ey on he Mapogga doo s o his su ealis
app oaches in Mozambique, gi e examples o he ans o ma ion p ocess, on how he
mode n p ojec go elas ici y, c ea i i y, endu ance, and inally eeding he u opia. The
a gumen add esses he ac ha hese wo minds en isaged a chi ec u e as a language
wi h an emo ional impac and a social and cul u al scope. Bea ing in mind a chi ec u e as
he p ima y isual medium wi h which human socie y exp esses and e eals i sel ,
a chi ec u e is concei ed as a dialogue and he design o buildings as means o c ea ing
ela ions be ween people a he han as an end in i sel .
Keywo ds: Team 10, Aldo an Eyck, Pancho Guedes, mode n p ojec , a chi ec u e
language
CIAM ook place om 1928 o 1958 las ing 3 decades o ali e discussions ha
didn’ esis o he shi o gene a ions in he a e WWII. Team 10 led he adical
con es a ion ega ding he dogma ic posi ions o some o he old leade s, such is
he case o G opius a he ime wi h mo e han 70 yea s old.
Ana Tos ões, REBELS WITH A CAUSE. Aldo an Eyck and Pancho Guedes, how o ind a meaning o he ac o
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This essay aims o look a he a chi ec u al app oaches o Aldo an Eyck (1918-
1999) and Pancho Guedes (1925-2015), conside ing hei c i ical a i ude agains
he p e ailing bu eauc a ic unc ionalism o hei ime, and hei ap i ude o
de eloping a deepe mode n and human a chi ec u e. Following pa allel pa hs,
some imes c ossed, hey bo h de ined a chi ec u e as “buil meaning”, e oking i s
mul iple signi icances, languages and esponsibili ies (Tos ões & Kosejl, 2018).
Aldo an Eyck, om his s udies on he sub-Saha an Dogon egion o he PREVI
(P oye o Expe imen al de Vi ienda) housing p oposals in Pe u, o Pancho Guedes,
om his su ey on he Mapogga doo s o his Dadais p oposals in Mozambique,
p o ide examples o he p ocess o me amo phosis, in which he mode n p ojec
acqui ed elas ici y, c ea i i y, endu ance, and inally accomplishing he u opia.
These wo hinke s en isaged a chi ec u e as a language wi h an emo ional impac
emphasizing i s social and cul u al scope (Le ai e & Tzonis, 1999). The alue hey
ecognized in he ole o he communi y and he impo ance o he social being as
he p ima y isual medium h ough which humankind exp esses and e eals i sel ,
explains he way hey bo h concei ed a chi ec u e as a dialogue; designing
buildings as means o c ea ing ela ionships be ween people, a he han as an
end in i sel (idem).
They bo h ook an uncommon in e es in an h opology, as well as in a chaic
cul u es. Thei ision pushed beyond Wes e n cul u e in he di ec ion o wha hey
belie ed o be a undamen al human he i age and which hey conside ed as
impo an as he classical and mode n he i age o Wes e n cul u e (S au en,
1998, p. 28).
Wi hin his backg ound, hey we e key in os e ing he eno a ing shi in he
a chi ec u e o he Mode n Mo emen (MoMo) du ing he pe iod a e Wo ld Wa
II (WWII).
They we e bo h pa o Team 10 and he young g oup o “ ebels wi h a cause”,
and bo h ook pa in he me amo phosis o he MoMo, which connec s pe ec ly
wi h he heme o his con e ence. Finally, in p i a e e ms hey we e bo h
descended om Po uguese g andpa en s – Guilhe mina Gou eia, he
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g andmo he o Aldo an Eyck, came om a noble Po uguese amily, as he
su name a es s – and hey we e bo h inspi ed du ing hei childhood by he
ma ellous wo ld o he o me o e seas colonies, ou side he Eu opean ame o
expe ience.
As onishingly, du ing his childhood, Aldo an Eyck was amilia wi h he legend
and magic o Su inam and Pa ama ibo, he colonial capi al whe e his mo he was
bo n and whe e his g and a he had been a physician and esea che (S au en,
1998, p. 30). Pancho Guedes was he child o a doc o se ing he o e seas
Po uguese colonies a ound he wo ld. He a ended p ima y school (1927-1931)
in he São Tomé e P íncipe a chipelago, be o e mo ing wi h his amily o
Mozambique in 1933, i s ly li ing in a u al se lemen in Manjacaze illage and
hen mo ing o he high school in Lou enço Ma ques (un il 1939), and la e o
Ma i z B o he ’s College Obse a o y in Johannesbu g (un il 1944). When his
amily mo ed o Mozambique Island, be ween 1945 and 1949, he s udied o his
Bachelo o A chi ec u e a he Uni e si y o he Wi wa e s and, Johannesbu g,
hen e u ned o Mozambique un il 1975, when he inally mo ed o Sou h A ica,
London and Po ugal.
They bo h sha ed a ascina ion o emo e, non-Eu opean cul u es. The disco e y
o hese o he wo lds, and he powe o o he ness, undoub edly ma ked hese wo
cha ac e s in he mos decisi e pe iod o hei de elopmen , hei childhood.
The e nacula o he hea
Aldo an Eyck con ibu ed o deepening he p og ess o mode ni y h ough a
mode n app oach, ha o him mean , abo e all, connec ing a chi ec u e wi h he
communi y. The impo ance o mee ing places and o an a chi ec u e designed as
a place o dialogue led o he desi e o p oduce public space and o hink ha
child en and places des ined o play ac i i ies de eloped wi hin public space, no
only ha e he po en ial o s uc u ing socie y bu also, and h ough his, o
s uc u ing he ci y. Aldo an Eyck de eloped a pionee ing and o iginal body o
wo k s a ing in 1947, in which he conside ed he impo ance o play, o he
Ana Tos ões, REBELS WITH A CAUSE. Aldo an Eyck and Pancho Guedes, how o ind a meaning o he ac o
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collec i e happening, o a chi ec u e as a shape o li e in socie y, wi h he powe
o in ensi ying ela ions be ween people.
1947 was a e y special yea o Aldo an Eyck. A he age o 28, he jus had
g adua ed om ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zu ich and a ended
he i s pos -wa CIAM mee ing in B idgewa e . Thei commen s he e no only
had an impac among he mee ing’s pa icipan s bu we e e en included in he
epo d a ed by Giedion (Le ai e & Tzonis, 1999, p. 14). His pa icipa ion in his
CIAM was undamen al o his u u e. When he e u ned o Ams e dam, he s a ed
pu ing his ideas in o p ac ice. As an employee o he Public Wo ks Se ices o
Ams e dam, he began o wo k wi h Co nelius an Es e an, his boss, who had also
been his closes link o CIAM since i s incep ion. A e he Wa , Co nelius an
Eas e en became esponsible o he econs uc ion o he ci y acco ding o CIAM
p inciples. A he sugges ion o Jacoba Mulde , a woman a chi ec who was pa
o an Eas e en's eam and who had al eady designed he Bea ixpa k in
Ams e dam (1936), Aldo an Eyck dedica ed himsel o a humble job, a new
p oblem wi h an inno a i e p og amme: o design a simple playg ound. Fo Aldo
an Eyck, i was an oppo uni y o y ou he hemes ha in e es ed him, which
in ol ed o e coming he mechanical unc ional limi a ions o he p econcei ed and
de e minis ic heo ies o he A hens Cha e , e i ing conce ns wi h communi y
and en isaging he scale o p oximi y.
Two yea s la e , he was o be called o design he i s exhibi ion o he a an -
ga de a mo emen COBRA1 a he S edelijk Museum in Ams e dam, whe e he
child and he ingenui y o child en's exp ession was he key alue and he heme.
Aldo an Eyck was close o he mo emen ha sha ed his ascina ion wi h play,
spon anei y wi hou p ejudice, child en's exp ession, expe imen a ion and a as e
o p imi i e a o ms.
1 COBRA was an a is s’ collec i e c ea ed in Pa is, in 1948, whose name de i es om he ini ials o
he h ee no he n Eu opean ci ies om which i s ounding membe s came: Copenhagen (Co),
B ussels (B ), Ams e dam (A). Among he ounding membe s we e Ka el Appel (1921-2006), Asge
Jo n (1914-1973), Cons an Nieuwenhuys (1920-2005), Co neille Guillaume Be e loo (1922-2010),
Ch is ian Do emon (1922-1979), Joseph Noi e (1927-2012) and E nes Mancoba (1904-2002).
The g oup was dissol ed in 1951.
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Aldo an Eyck’s a chi ec u e o playg ounds as a cul u al c i ique agains he
unc ional mechanical ci y ha , in i s ‘massi e, la ge-scale planning iew, had
igno ed mino spaces, abandoned be ween exis ing buildings’ (Le ai e & Tzonis,
1999, p. 17), is linked o his mo emen .
This undamen al shi caused Aldo an Eyck o s a looking a he ci y in e ms
o he daily use o space, wi hou dis inguishing be ween he p i a e and he
public, and ocused on child en's li es. This p ocess led o he playg ound p ojec s
ha Aldo an Eyck p oposed o child en h oughou he ci y o Ams e dam, aking
ad an age o many acan lo s, abandoned o des oyed by he wa . In hese
in e s ices, he p oposed ha li e should eplace mise y, neglec , des uc ion and
abandonmen . This capilla i y sys em, joy ully used by he child en o he pos -
wa boom, om housing wi h a sca ce supply o gene ous a eas, was o be
ins umen al in ebuilding he ci y's b oken ab ic. And i was o be an Eyck's
weapon o exposing he limi a ions o a na ow and mechanical unc ionalism.
As John Voelcke (1955) s a ed, ‘ hese small-scale p ojec s dedica ed o he
e e yday li e o child en, we e wo en in o he neglec ed holes o he u ban ab ic,
o mless s e ches o land loca ed on di e en kinds o lo s, made ou o
uncon en ional, unsophis ica ed ma e ials ound close o he si e.’
The Ams e dam Municipal O phanage (1958-1960) is one o his si ua ionis
p ojec s, and he i s la ge-scale one. In i , Aldo an Eyck pu in o p ac ice a
decade o expe ience o child en’s li es applied o public space, and abo e all, his
con ic ions on he impo ance o a chi ec u e o es ablish ela ions wi hin he
communi y and dialogue be ween people, as opposed o neu ali y and epea ed
massi ica ion, and wha he called ‘nobody eeling he is somebody li ing
somewhe e’2.
In he o phanage, inspi ed by a chaic o m language, he used he polycen ic
pa adigm. He made a kind o an h opomo phism angible by e e ing o he
communica i e ea u es o he human body, he symme y o i s on al
appea ance, o ganising a plan o oid and buil modules adap ing and adop ing
he mic ocosmic ealm o i s o me playg ounds. The aim was o s imula e he
2 Aldo an Eyck, p esen a ion o he Nagele g id p ojec a CIAM Con e ence, Dub o nik, 1956.

Ana Tos ões, REBELS WITH A CAUSE. Aldo an Eyck and Pancho Guedes, how o ind a meaning o he ac o
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c ea ion o mee ing places, a eas whe e human exchange would occu and
dialogue ake place (Le ai e & Tzonis, 1999, p. 17).
Aldo an Eyck w o e ‘ he e nacula o he hea ’3 acco ding o wha he held o be
he ‘a chaic p inciples o human na u e’, he p imal alues ha su i ed in a chaic
cul u es (S au en, 1998, p. 380). His in e es in a chaic o dis an cul u es wen
beyond an unde s anding o hei way o building. Aldo an Eyck was mo ed,
abo e all, by he powe o hei en i e p oduc ion in e ms o unde s anding hei
associa ed iew o li e and he wo ld. Much like Pancho Guedes, who collec ed
inc edible a e ac s in Mozambique (Poma ed, 2010), Aldo an Eyck assembled a
wide collec ion o e hnog aphic a e ac s, including masks, igu ines and cul
objec s, po e y and ab ics (S au en, 1998, p. 381). When pu suing his
esea ch, he ocused his in e es on wo special cul u es: he Dogon people om
he o me F ench colony o Sudan and he Zuni om New Mexico.
Undoub edly, he s udies, in es iga ions, and eadings he made o a chaic
ci iliza ions had consequences o he way he app oached he mode n p ojec and
sough o o e come mechanis ic unc ionalism. The non-wes e n design elemen s
bo owed (Le ai e & Tzonis, 1999, p. 10) om he Dogon se lemen s in hei
ela ion be ween p i a e and public and he unde s anding o he communi y in
hei design, a e a esul o his ex ao dina y esea ch ha mo ed him o isi
Sudan in 1960.
F om he Dogon, he collec ed ascina ing images om sculp u es and building ha
ins illed a desi e o become amilia wi h hei cul u e. In 1960, a e he
comple ion o he o phanage, he a elled wi h his wi e o Wes e n A ica.
Unde s anding i s my hology, i es and symbolic ocabula y ‘helped (him) o ge
o know no only he houses and illages (he) had admi ed o so long, bu hei
builde s also’ ( an Eyck, 1967, p. 30 quo ed in S au en, 1998, p. 381). This eal
and hones expe ience, he conc e e expe ience o hei e e yday and i ual li e,
houses, i ual and mee ing places, made a p o ound impac on him.
3 Fi s p esen ed in he IX CIAM (O e lo, 1959), he concep “ e nacula o he hea ” was la e
de eloped by Aldo an Eyck in a icles published in he jou nal Fo um (1962).
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I eme ged clea ly om his esea ch ha he Dogon ‘saw no only hei
en i onmen bu he whole wo ld as a chain o ela ed, mu ually nes ed s uc u es’
(idem).
The s imulus o he playg ounds, combined wi h he cul u e o hese a chaic
se lemen s, led Aldo an Eyck o deepen he in ol emen o people in decisions
and inc ease ci izen pa icipa ion.
Wi h espec o pa icipa o y p ocesses, he PREVI p ojec was an impo an
expe ience o Aldo an Eyck. PREVI, an ac onym o P oyec o Expe imen al de
Vi ienda (Expe imen al Housing P ojec ) (see Tos ões ed., 2014), was he esul
o a consul a ion p ocess ini ia ed in 1965, by he P esiden o Pe u, Fe nando
Balaunde Te y (1912-2002), wi h he goal o de eloping a social-housing
p og am able o egula e he sp ead o sel -cons uc ion in in o mal se lemen s
ha was aking place in Lima, as a consequence o uns oppable mig a ion lows
in o he ci y. Asked by he Go e nmen o Pe u and by he UNDP (Uni ed Na ions
De elopmen P og am), he a chi ec Pe e Land concei ed and ca ied ou i s
Mas e Plan as UN P ojec Di ec o . In 1969, an in e na ional compe i ion was
o ganized o he design and cons uc ion o a sus ainable neighbou hood o 1,500
dwellings. The u ban p inciples equi ed we e human scale; a pedes ian
o ien a ed en i onmen ; high-densi y and low- ise de elopmen ; small p i a e
cou ya ds; he po en ial o g ow and be adjus ed o e ime; new and app op ia e
building echnologies, and ea hquake esis ance. Among he 6 eams, selec ed
om 26, was Aldo an Eyck’s, who had designed houses able o g ow acco ding
o he needs o he amily. Eschewing he usual ec angula shape, he designed
elonga ed hexagonal plo s, occupied in he cen e by he elemen a y co e, he
house cell, wi h he in en ion o o e ing he necessa y space o building and
expanding he house o he owne ’s as e, and include on and ea ga dens.
These we e o ien ed in a way o bene i om con inuous en ila ion and sun
shade. Wi h PREVI, Aldo an Eyck was also able o add ess he issue o in e s i ial
oids o de ine mee ing places wi hin his ambi ion o c ea ing spaces o child en
as pa o he u ban se lemen s, ul illing his wish o ollow a housing p og amme
based o e all on he s eng h o communi y ela ionships.
Ana Tos ões, REBELS WITH A CAUSE. Aldo an Eyck and Pancho Guedes, how o ind a meaning o he ac o
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Buildings should smile and speak
Pancho Guedes4 (1925), he Luso-A ican a chi ec (Wi wa e s and Uni e si y,
1953) ac i e in Mozambique – he Po uguese colony un il i s independence in
1975 –, made in his w i ings and a chi ec u al p oduc ion a majo con ibu ion o
he eassessmen o a chi ec u al mode ni y, connec ing di e en disciplines and
cul u es and de eloping an a ini y wi h a ious c ea o s, no ably he pain e
Malanga ana Ngwenya (1936-2009). His an as ic and magical a chi ec u e comes
om he s imulus o a la ge wo ldwide ne wo k o a is s and hinke s ha he
himsel assembled om di e en sou ces such as: MoMo a chi ec s, namely he
Sou h A ican con ibu o s such as Ma iessen o he inspi ing B azilian in luences
o Lúcio Cos a and Osca Niemeye ; F ank Lloyd W igh ’s spa ial esea ch o he
con es ing c i ical mo emen a CIAM in he con ex o Team 10 which he joined
a CIAM’s Royaumon mee ing oge he wi h he Smi hsons, Aldo an Eyck,
Candilis and Gianca lo di Ca lo; o las ly, he new A ican a is s who he p omo ed.
The e o e, he sough o an a chi ec u e ull o signi icance, ca ying a pe sonal
dimension based on esea ch ocused on all o mal dimensions and on he
possibili y o a chi ec onical elemen s o con ain and exp ess emo ion: ‘I claim
o a chi ec s he same igh s and eedom pain e s and poe s ha e had o so
long’ (Guedes, 2007, p. 12). Pancho Guedes wan ed o app op ia e he p imi i e’s
uni e sal mo i s, mixing hem wi h his own sophis ica ed a chi ec onical cul u e,
in o de o achie e he a mosphe e o a de Chi ico pain ing in his buildings. Pancho
Guedes knew ha a chi ec u e is no pe cei ed as an in ellec ual expe ience bu
as a sensa ion, an emo ion (Hue , 1962, p. 42). The e o e, he was in e es ed in
he ques o such a quali y ‘long ago los among a chi ec s bu able o each a
spon aneous a chi ec u e capable o magic in ensi y’ (Guedes, 2007).
In he 1950s, his sea ch esul ed om he desi e o c ea e an al e na i e
mode ni y, di e en om he mechanical in e na ional s yle also g owing in
44 Pancho Guedes ull name: Amâncio d'Alpoim Mi anda Guedes; he a ious guises o his name:
Amâncio Guedes o Pancho Guedes: A. Mi anda Guedes, A. de Alpoim Guedes, Amâncio D'Alpoim
Guedes, and Amâncio de Mi anda Guedes.
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A ica.5 Unlike he majo i y o a chi ec s wo king in A ica o ced o design in
dialogue wi h clima e cons ains, Pancho Guedes also claimed he c ea o ’s igh
o innocence s imula ed by he sensuali y and d ama o he su ounding A ican
cul u e.
The will o disco e an al e na i e mode ni y was a esponse o an inne appeal,
bu also o an A ica awakening o con empo anei y, o a new wo ld which was in
a s a e o e men (Tza a, 1962). Pancho Guedes wi nessed and ac ed a a ime
when a chi ec u e was open o popula cul u e, when a chi ec u e wi hou
a chi ec s and a chi ec u e o an asy we e accep ed.6 Bu i was also a ime o
complexi y and mul iple solu ions opening up o he MoMo in con inui y o c isis
(Roge s, 1957), he ones Giedion iden i ied as a esul o an equa ion be ween
eason and emo ion (Giedion, 1941).
Pancho Guedes assembled he condi ions o ollow an al e na i e, o iginal and
idiosync a ic pa h o his own. Besides his huge alen , b oad cul u e,
expe imen alism and genuine cu iosi y, he had he expe ience o li ing in A ica
a a ime when, despi e he impe ialis ic p esence ‘any hing seemed possible’
(Guedes, 1998, p. 9).
On he in e na ional ci cui , Pancho Guedes es ablished himsel bo h as an
a chi ec , pa on and champion o A ican a a he same ime. In Pa is, he
publica ion o his a icle abou he pain ed houses o he Ndebele people o Sou h
A ica, en i led "Les Mapogga", which ea u ed on he co e o he magazine
di ec ed by And é Bloc, Aujou d'hui: A e A chi ec u e (Guedes, 1962a), was
conside ed g ound-b eaking: ‘ he i s o highligh he a chi ec u al and sculp u al
o malism o he dwellings’ (An onnelli, 2013).
5 As Pancho s a es: “Fo some, he Mode n Mo emen has accomplished i s p og am and a chi ec u e
has en e ed he ime o e inemen and classicism. Indeed, he cance o s yles is again upon us –
mo e mo al and e i ying han e e be o e. Fo o he s – who om day o day s a e loneliness in
he ace – we know we will emain ou laws o he es o ou li es o else u n ai o s o ou sel es.”
(Guedes, 1962b, p. 42-48)
6 MoMA exhibi ion in 1960 “A qui ec u a Visioná ia”, Be na d Rudo sky (1905-1988), "A chi ec u e
Wi hou A chi ec s: A Sho In oduc ion o Non-Pedig eed A chi ec u e" (1964), "A chi ec u al
His o y, as w i en and augh in he Wes e n Wo ld, has ne e been conce ned wi h mo e han a
ew selec cul u es."