Creative uses for PVC
The Opera-Prima Award encourages the use of PVC in architectural designs and urban planning
written by ◦ Danielle Espósito photos by ◦ Carlos Gueller

In reality, São Paulo’s bustling 13 de Maio Plaza is characterized by disorganized transportation terminals and a great deal of visual pollution. As designed by by Fernanda Kleeman Spirucci, from the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie of São Paulo, one of the winners of the Opera-Prima Award, that unsightly area would be a spacious, functional square with plenty of room for services, shops and entertainment.

Hard to imagine? Not for the students and young professionals who took part in the Opera-Prima Award, a national competition for final degree projects submitted by students of architecture and urban planning, organized by the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB) and Projeto Design magazine with the sponsorship of Braskem. This year, the competition included a new award category: Designing with PVC. Several of the projects submitted presented creative ways of revitalizing run-down public spaces.

Braskem is sponsoring the award to help encourage innovation from different angles, particularly regarding the use of PVC. “Encouraging the application of PVC to come up with new solutions is very important. Through this new award category, we hope to increase young professionals’ knowledge of all the possible uses of this material,” says Roberto Simões, Vice President of Braskem’s Vinyls Unit.

The young people clearly understood what the category was all about. The winning entry for Designing with PVC was the “Pocket School” by Rafael Pinho, from the Federal University at Minas Gerais. It is an example of how functionality and creativity can be combined in the same design. Rafael’s audacious proposal involves building a prefabricated school made of modules and panels that can be disassembled. The school design makes intelligent uses of PVC. Built around a metal structure, the walls are made from pliable PVC panels, and the parts can be transported by truck, so that the school can be reassembled many times in many different places.

“This design is a winner because it combines practicality and quality while meeting a social need. In general, the projects submitted for the award reflect tremendous concern about social and cultural issues. The Designing with PVC category was no different. It elicited very interesting responses, such as the use of the material on a broader scale,” explains Demetre Anastassakis, National President of the Brazilian Institute of Architects.

Intended to introduce young professionals to the market, the Opera Prima Award has become more than a touchstone for students of architecture – it is now a goal. In 2004, 423 projects from 86 universities from around the country competed for the award, a record number since it was created 16 years ago. “Being part of Opera-Prima has always been something of a goal and a dream for me,” says Rafael.