Picture and text from: Afterall
"The second time I went there, a Saturday, the atmosphere was different - no longer the elegant and solitary Hennebiquen structure, but happy people, children, mothers, parents and OAPs [old age persons] went from one shed to another. Kids ran, youngsters played football in rain falling through broken roofs, laughing as they kicked the ball through the water. Mothers barbecued and made sandwiches at the entrance of Rua Clécia; there was a puppet theatre near it, full of children. I thought, it has to continue like this, with so much happiness. I returned many times, Saturday and Sundays, until I really got it…
Until she really got what? By looking through the 'structure', the reinforced concrete of the derelict factory space, Bo Bardi was able to access the site's psychic resonances. And while the particular value of these resonances emanated from a typical weekend feel of pleasure and boredom - as well as from a sense of place in a community of mostly migrant workers from the Brazilian Northeast and Europe - the actual material condition of the space seemed to matter, too. The social energy perceived and celebrated by Bo Bardi was a result of the precarious condition of the once solid structure. Dysfunctionality kicked off happiness."
