Architect, Brazil Lúcio Costa (b.Toulon, France 1902, d. Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1988) played a seminal role in introducing modern architecture and urbanism to Brazil. A dedicated teacher, he often included talented younger designers in important projects. Costa tempered modern European methods with local materials, building techniques, and vernacular design traditions, thus contributing significantly to the development of a modern Brazilian expression. During his lifetime he fostered appreciation for Brazil’s unique architectural heritage and was active in the historic preservation movement, particularly in his later years. As a 1924 graduate of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, he participated in the neo-Colonial movement. His promise as an articulate designer in that style helped secure his position as the director of the Escola in 1930 at age 28. Yet Costa’s interests in such European modernists as Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier were further g...