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Jorge, o traço e o todo

2016, Oculum Ensaios

Iniciar a vida profissional com um arquiteto de quase cinquenta anos de carreira é um privilégio sem tamanho. Começamos a trabalhar com o Jorge no final dos anos 1990. Jorge era capaz de circular em diversas áreas do conhecimento: um apreciador das artes plásticas, da música, da literatura, do cinema, da paisagem, da arquitetura e das cidades. Mesmo depois dos 80 anos, estudava como um menino curioso que olha pela primeira vez para algo que o encanta.Produzia reflexões que eram fruto do acúmulo de sua vivência, dos inúmeros lugares onde esteve, das várias línguas que falava e, principalmente, de um homem sereno e seguro o suficiente para aprender com o outro.

JORGE, LINES AND THE WHOLE LÍGIA ROCHA, MARCIA GROSBAUM

Beginning our professional lives with an architect with over 50 years of experience was a priceless privilege. Our work with Jorge started in the late 1990s. He circulated in multiple areas of knowledge, being very fond of fine arts, music, literature, cinema, landscapes, architecture and cities. Even after his 80th birthday, Jorge still studied like a curious young boy seeing something for the first time. He yielded reflections that were a product of his experience, the numberless places he had been to, the many languages he spoke and, more importantly, his undisturbed and self-assured character that always allowed him to learn from others.

All through his professional practice, Jorge sharpened his abilities to see the whole, understand its dynamics and spot specificities, all the while not losing sight of critical points of the project on the drawing board. When the project concept was defined, it would be as simple and synthetic as a diagram, as many of the selected images show.

Many techniques were employed to support his fashion of self-expression over his more-than-60-years-long career: mechanical pencils, ink, letraset and, more recently, computer programs and applications available in mobile devices. Lately, most of his ideas were expressed verbally and we did the drawings. For that reason, the images selected are mostly old ones. Jorge's methodology turned into one of the Office's main features: a synthetizing gaze to the whole, carefully designed not to miss the place's peculiarities, its potentials and issues, all expressed in schematic drawings that conveyed the projects' concepts.

Firm lines drawing development axes; arrows pointing to fluxes and guidelines; spots and transparences organize occupation and uses in spaces; snails design integration and meeting focal points; organic lines bring men closer to nature.

Anytime we traveled to develop a project, Jorge invited us to take a tour of the city before any meeting or approximation with the work's theme. Many times, we couldn't imagine where he wanted to get with his inquiries, but the synthesis was always revealed in a few lines drawn on a napkin when we sat down for coffee. It allowed him to identify and locate the city's main issues, its main growth and conflict vectors and quite commonly, a strong idea was already outlined there, one which would guide the entire project.

Of course, guidelines could be altered over the period the work lasted: Jorge used to say if a concept needs to be over-justified to make sense, it probably isn't the right one, and we must be humble to start again. But the original sketch he made from a first impression of the place and his skillful urbanist intuition, that guided our views through the site, was hardly ever mistaken.

Jorge was always producing syntheses -in cheerful conversations, marching in silence from edge to edge of the Office, walking in Agua Branca Park. Having worked for over a decade with him in such a harmonious scenery and having shared moments of intense production and knowledge made it almost natural for us to continue the Office.

Perpetuating his way of dealing with urban issues as part of his search for more human, fair and creative cities has become our mission. This year, almost three after his death, Jorge Wilheim Consultores Associados is renamed JWurbana. JW will always represent a tribute to the master architect and a commitment to his work.