Lota de Macedo Soares

Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares

Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares (born March 16, 1910 in Paris , † September 25, 1967 in New York City ) was a Brazilian architect .

life and work

Soares was born in Paris to José Eduardo de Macedo Soares , Lieutenant in the Navy in Europe, and Adelia de Carvalho Costallat. In 1912 her father returned to Brazil with his family and founded Imparcial magazine in Rio de Janeiro , the forerunner of Diário Carioca . In the early 1940s Soares attended classes at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Without ever having attended university, she was recognized as a self-taught architect and landscape architect. From 1951 to 1965 she lived with the American poet Elizabeth Bishop .

Carlos Lacerda , who had taken over the government of the newly created state of Guanabara (1960-1965), handed her the project of the Flamengo Park in the Flamengo district . He suggested changing the project along Flamengo Beach (Praia do Flamengo) to create a much larger garbage dump in Flamengo Park. When Carlos Lacerda lost in the subsequent elections, his successor forced her to abandon the project before it was closed. The political situation and the farewell to her partner made her fall into depression. In 1967 Soares wanted to visit Elizabeth Bishop in New York. Bishop found her in her living room with a glass of antidepressant. Soares fell into a coma and died a few days later. The relationship between the two women is portrayed in the novel by Carmen L. Oliveira "Flores raras e banalíssimas: A história de Lota de Macedo Soares e Elizabeth Bishop" and was filmed by the Brazilian director Bruno Barreto in the film "The Poetess". To commemorate her 107th birthday, Google published a Google Doodle on March 16, 2017 .

literature

Oliveira, Carmen: Rare and Commonplace Flowers. The Story of Elizabeth Bishop and Lota de Macedo Soares. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ 2002, ISBN 0-813-53359-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Soares, Lota de Macedo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Soares, Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Brazilian architect
DATE OF BIRTH	March 16, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	September 25, 1967
Place of death	New York City