Paulo Mendes da Rocha (born 1928) is a Brazilian architect- 2006 Pritzker Prize

Paulo Mendes da Rocha (born 1928) is a Brazilian architect. He was recently honored with the 2006 Pritzker Prize, and in 2000 with the Mies van der Rohe Prize. Working almost exclusively in Brazil, Mendes has been producing modernist/brutalist buildings since 1957. Mendes produces buildings mainly in concrete, a method he calls “Brazilian Brutalist” that allows buildings to be constructed cheaplyand quickly. He has contributed many notable cultural buildings to São Paulo, Brazil and is widely credited as enhancing and revitalizing the city.

For your information The Pritzker Architecture Prize, award for excellence in architecture, given annually since 1979.

The Brazilian Museum of Sculpture sets on a 75,000-square foot triangular site on a main thoroughfare in São Paulo, Brazil. Instead of creating a free-standing building, architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha treated the museum and the landscape are treated as a whole.

Large concrete slabs create partly underground internal spaces and also form an exterior plaza with water pools and an esplanade. An emmense 97-foot long, 39-foot wide beam frames the museum.

fonte architecture.about.com