A evolução formal da obra de William Abdalla: de Bagdá para o universo de Minas

Abstract

It becomes very relevant to study William Ramos Abdallas architecture (1940), as it tries to fill the gaps in our bibliography, historically recovering his little known and scattered works. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a more comprehensive analysis and a systematic survey of the work at issue, aiming to bring to light for those studying architecture the outstanding, though forgotten, work by William Abdalla. Brazilian architecture is very rich and creative; that is why it is important tostudy it. The present investigation has revealed that Abdalla is avid for the new and the unknown. His architecture is ruled by the wish for discovering and inventing. His architectonic language and his project style are peculiar, producing an open, creative and organic architecture. Although being an architect outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, he left works that had great merits, being considered universal examples of architecture, among the best in the world. Being universal and contemporary, he follows the spirit of each era. Extremely sensitive to the local conditions, he is the author of coherent and refined projects. It is important to point out the far reaching typology of his architecture, once he projects houses, schools, banks, company headquarters and plants with the same rigor and beauty. After living for two years in Baghdad, where he worked at the metropolitan train construction, he got acquainted with the others view, turning into a cordial, tolerant and creative person. He hascourageously invested in the humanistic organic architecture of the German architect, Rudolf Steiner, in the twenties, to produce a dynamic and contemporary architecture. During the years of his career, he kept Minas Gerais tradition of producing good architecture. Thus, Abdallas greatest lesson would be that of correct locating the building in time and space. The present work by no means tries to exhaust the current subject. Therefore, it is important that other researchers come tobe interested in the outstanding work by William Abdalla, adding new findings related to his architecture, since many of his works remain to be visited.