Architects: Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares

Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares (1910-1967), often remembered simply as Lota, was a Brazilian designer and urban planner. She is best known for transforming Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo Park into a harmonious blend of nature and modernity, crafting one of the world’s largest urban parks. 

For Further Reading:

• Architectural Review: Maria Carlota Costallat de Macedo Soares (1910-1967)Soul mates #3 Lota de Macedo SoaresOldschool Rio: An ambitious project called Aterro do Flamengo
• Soul mates #3 Lota de Macedo SoaresOldschool Rio: An ambitious project called Aterro do Flamengo
• Oldschool Rio: An ambitious project called Aterro do Flamengo

This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello. I'm Sarah Shleid, a producer at Wonder Media Network,
and I'm super excited to be hosting this episode of Hamanica.
This month, we're talking about architects. These women held fast
to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space,
and built their creations from the ground up. Today, we're

(00:23):
talking about a woman whose legacy comes in the form
of the largest urban seaside park in the world. With
a vision and a team of architects, she built Rio
de Janeiro's largest public park. Let's talk about Maria Carlota
Costela Gimasido Soaries. Maria Carlota was born on March sixteenth,

(00:46):
nineteen ten, in Paris. She came from an aristocratic Brazilian family.
They returned to Rio de Janeiro when Maria was just two.
In Brazil, she went by Loda. Thoda started out in
the visual arts, working with famous Modernist painters. Loda became
more drawn to architecture, especially landscape architecture. Loda didn't receive

(01:10):
eddy formal training in architecture, but she was naturally gifted,
well connected, and an incredibly hard worker. All she needed
was the right opportunity turns out that opportunity was right
under her nose. Thanks to her earlier networking, Loda crossed
paths with Brazilian architect Sergio Bernardi's She had a proposal

(01:33):
for him. Loda wanted to build a house in the
region of sam Umbaia, where her family had once owned
a farm. In nineteen fifty one, Loda and Sergio began
designing her home in the lush hills of Brazil. That
same year, Loda met American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth had
traveled to Brazil for what she thought would be a

(01:55):
two weeks stay, but she ended up staying fifteen years.
Loda and Elizabeth struck up a passionate but turbulent relationship.
It probably didn't help that the beginning of their relationship
coincided with Lotus crash course in architecture. Designing her house,
each and every decision was made with great care and

(02:17):
also tension. Loda and Sergio fought over almost every part
of the laborious process, but after three long years, they
completed the modern home, tucked into Samumbia's tropical setting. Lodus
contribution is most strongly felt through the relationship between the
houses external landscaping and sam and BIA's vegetative hills. Lodus

(02:42):
charm put her in rooms with highly influential and important people.
One of those people was politician Carlos Leserda, the governor
of the state of Guanabara. He offered Loda a position
in his administration. As the legend goes, Carlos said to Loda,
tell me what you want. Loda responded by pointing at

(03:03):
a pile of rubble in front of his apartment and saying,
give me this fill. I'll make it into a Central Park.
While this isn't actually how this job came to be,
Loda did have big plans for the land. She had
experienced the grandeur of Central Park when visiting New York
and felt Rio deserve the same. Loda was confident she

(03:23):
was the one for this job, but she knew she
couldn't do it alone. She curated a team of eight
architects to assist in making her vision come to life.
She also brought in botanists, landscape artists, and infrastructure and
traffic experts. Her goal was to create a space that
improved the overall quality of life for Rio residents, reconnected

(03:45):
them with their natural surroundings and hopefully slowed down real
estate speculation. The park would be situated on land reclaimed
from the ocean. The project used material from other nearby
areas to create new land, an alter part of the
coast line. On top of that, Loda had to figure
out how to construct and design the park around established

(04:05):
buildings like Rio's modern art gallery and airport. A project
of this scale came with many challenges. Carlos's support only
went so far, and Loda found herself fighting tooth and
nail against Brazil's bureaucracy. She also had to manage the
egos and personalities of the talented team she dissembled. Loda

(04:25):
had her own shortcomings. Her ambition propelled her, but she
could be obsessive and insulting when things went awry. The
project took its toll. It required her to be in Rio,
away from sam Umbia and Elizabeth. Elizabeth hated Rio and
had turned to drinking. Loda became depressed. Finally, on October seventeenth,

(04:48):
nineteen sixty five, the park opened. Today, it's commonly known
as Attero Gi Flamingo. It's made up of two hundred
ninety six acres of land that includes lush, green area gardens,
recreational spaces, restaurants, and prime locations along Guanabara Bay. It
mixes modernity in nature and quickly became a destination for

(05:11):
locals and tourists to like. The park was a huge success,
but it was also a huge undertaking. In the following years,
Lodas struggled with the damage that work had done to
herself and her relationship. She had a breakdown in the
fall of nineteen sixty seven. Loda flew to New York
to reunite with Elizabeth. She died just a few days later,

(05:35):
either by suicide or exhaustion, on September twenty fifth, nineteen
sixty seven. All month We're talking about architects. For more information,
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast Special
thanks to Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as
a guest host. Talk to you tomorrow.