Drawing Workshop: Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge

Professor Architect Leopoldo Schettino

The workshop “Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge” invites participants to reflect on the relationship between modernism, the city, and sustainability.

The starting point will be the architectural complex of Ibirapuera Park, a landmark celebration of Brazilian modernism, where Niemeyer proposed fluid, light, and open spaces for social interaction. More than half a century later, these same buildings and their location within the park become fertile ground for a current question: how can architecture respond to the demands of environmental comfort and the transformations imposed by climate change?

The course aims to develop critical observation through drawing, exploring how architectural elements—such as the monumentality of curves, the use of concrete, and the relationship between covered and open spaces—interact with environmental factors such as sunlight, shading, ventilation, and drainage. The program combines theoretical sessions, which present the history of Ibirapuera Park and its impact on São Paulo's urban planning, with practical observational drawing activities in the park itself.

The artistic practices will focus on learning and improving techniques such as linework, proportion, perspective, and the study of light, encouraging each participant to capture their own perceptions and translate into drawings the experience of observing architecture in a climatic context. At the end of the course, there will be an exhibition of the work developed.

The workshop is led by architect Leopoldo Schettino, an Italian graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II and a Master in Architecture and Urban Planning from FAU-USP. His work includes being hired by the city of Pompeii (Naples) to develop the city's master plan and redevelopment projects for open spaces—such as squares and gardens—an experience that solidified his thinking on the relationship between urban space, landscape, and quality of life.

His international experience also extends to meetings and workshops in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, led by renowned architects such as Álvaro Siza, Aires Mateus, and João Nunes, who constantly expand his critical and design vision. In Brazil, his career has been linked to collaborations with leading firms, including Oscar Niemeyer Arquiteto, Isay Weinfeld, and Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos. A specialist in traditional and digital drawing techniques, Leopoldo Schettino combines design and teaching practices, offering a sensitive, critical, and pragmatic perspective on architecture and its role in contemporary challenges.

Vacancies: 15

Free


Registration:

Registrations must be made by form available here.

Selection will be made in order of registration.

Registration will be open until September 30, 2025.


Stay tuned, three activities take place before the opening of the Biennial:

13/09 – associated activity | workshop Land in weave (photo on the side);
15/09 – workshop Imagining Architectures for a Warming World – module 1 (registration until 09/13);
17/09 – two films from the 1st session of Cinema, Architecture and Society: Records of a Hot World.

(The schedule is still in the process of being added to the website; it will be complete soon)