Handwritten letter from Lucio Costa (1966)

In 1966, urban planner Lúcio Costa is revolted by the US war in Vietnam.

Handwritten letter from Lúcio Costa to Anthony Kraft. One page. In Portuguese. Letter : 16.2 cm x 22 cm. Envelope : 15.0 cm x 9 cm. 1966, Rio de Janeiro. Perfect state. Single set.

Dear AK

Thanks, never mind, it's just that I forgot to flag Japan and Korea in my sketch. I apologize for keeping these inane remarks while, at this very moment, we are killing people and destroying men's work in an immoral and filthy war in Vietnam.

LC, RJ, 25/?/1966

Pike Coast (1902 - 1998) is an urban planner known worldwide for having designed, from 1957 onwards, the Plano Piloto of Brasília in partnership with Oscar Niemeyer who, in turn, imagined the famous buildings of the Brazilian capital. Years before, Niemeyer, a young architect recently graduated, had asked for an internship to Coast . His official biography also mentions his direction of the National School of Fine Arts and IPHAN, and his intense collaboration with modernists, such as the renowned French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier.

Anthony Kraft was an editor of an architectural journal in Lausanne in the 1960s. Henri, one of our clients - and a great collector - thinks that "the letter refers to a discussion of a very interesting article by Lucio Costa that was published in magazine in 1967 where he talks about forms and functions (...)"

Unpublished manuscripts or personal correspondence from great personalities often reveal facts or even feelings and convictions that are not in the books. It is one of the charms that lovers of rare documents appreciate.

This is the case of this letter in which Pike Coast tells a Swiss friend about a forgotten project involving Japan and Korea, in the midst of the US war in Vietnam: an immense frustration for the urban planner. The time was troubled and this feeling was shared by millions of pacifists in the world, among them great artists, scientists, athletes, etc.

The story is ironic, as few people know, not even the French, that Coast he was the son of a naval engineer - or a diplomat, it is not clear - and he was born in the south of France, in Toulon, the largest military port in Europe.

letters from Pike Coast are very rare, this is the first one I found in the last 10 years. It draws attention for the strength of its content, obviously this impactful political opinion of the urbanist, but also for the commentary on some of his works that made him internationally renowned.

In excellent condition, with its envelope and the official paper of the Minister of Education, it is a piece of great quality that a collector or an institution that studies or works with architecture should preserve. She values ​​Brasilia and also promotes peace in the world.