The modern tropical architecture and social-environmental classification - An analysis of the Prefeito Mendes de Moraes Housing Complex

Modern architecture took different forms and shapes around the world, trying, even though its well defined concepts and values, to find out ideal measures and answers to a technological contemporary world. In the tropics this architecture is largely related to the construction of strong and modern governmental institutions. In this cenarium, social housing and adaptation to the climate were really popular topics, being carefully cared for by Brazilian modernists. The present study analyzes the residential block A from the social housing complex Conjunto Habitacional Prefeito Mendes de Moraes, based on the requirements of a social-environmental classification instrument created specifically for Brazilians construction sector, called Selo Casa Azul. The building to be analyzed is an icon of modern architecture, and part of a pioneering experience in the construction of a “neighborhood unit”. Designed by Afonso Reidy and Carmen Portinho in 1946 It contains 272 apartments grouped in one single 260 meters long block and a range of design solutions regarding thermal comfort by passive solutions. For the realization of the work iconographic material was collected and a site visit was taken. As a result, it was possible to observe the topicality of the building, despite the many years that separate the project from the creation of the seal, and the consequent changes in the construction technologies and benchmarks.