Mara Eskinazi

Mara Eskinazi is an architect and urbanist, and professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) and at the Graduate Program in Urbanism (PROURB) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she has been teaching and researching since 2011. She is currently the Edward Larocque Visiting Professor of Architecture at Columbia GSAPP for the Fall 2025 semester. Eskinazi holds a professional diploma in Architecture and Urbanism from the Faculty of Architecture of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (FA UFRGS, 2004), a Master’s in Architecture from the Graduate Program in Architecture of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (PROPAR FA UFRGS, 2008), and a PhD in Urbanism from the Graduate Program in Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PROURB FAU UFRJ, 2013), including a doctoral research period at the Institut für Architektur of the Technische Universität Berlin. In 2022-2023, she was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar and postdoctoral researcher at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.

Her professional experience centers on architectural design, interior design, and housing. Her teaching and research activities center on architectural design as well as theory, history, and criticism of architecture, working mainly on the following subjects: housing, modern architecture, particularly in the 1950s, continuity and criticism of modernity, foundation and conception of architectural design, façades, and architectural devices for environmental control. At the undergraduate level, she teaches architectural design studios, at the core and advanced levels. In graduate studies, she is a member of the UrCA group (Urbanism, Criticism and Architecture), at PROURB FAU UFRJ, where she teaches and leads the research project “The Façade as an Interface: Design Repertoire”, examining multi-family residential architecture in Rio de Janeiro through its façade plans. She also participates in the research group “Design Teaching and Research: The Production of Modern and Contemporary Architecture”, at the Graduate Program in Architecture of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (PROPAR FA UFRGS).

Among her latest publications are: “Parque Guinle Post-Modern?” (ESKINAZI, Mara; CANTERGIANI, Nathalia; BOHRER, Mônica. In: 18th International Docomomo Conference. Modern Futures: Sustainable Development and Cultural Diversity. Santiago del Chile: Andros Impressores, v.1, p. 936-943, 2024); “Brise-soleil, “Un briseur de toutes sortes de difficultés” (ESKINAZI, Mara; BOHRER, Mônica; CANTERGIANI, Nathalia. In: ENANPARQ 8 – Meeting of the National Association in Research and Graduation in Architecture, 2024, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); “Interfaces cariocas. Irmãos Roberto e a dimensão urbana da arquitetura para a habitação” (ESKINAZI, Mara. Registros. Revista de Investigación Histórica. Mar del Plata: Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata – Facultad de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño. Vol. 19, p. 89-109, Jan-Feb 2023); “A fachada e a grelha: edifícios Bristol e Júlio Barros Barreto” (ESKINAZI, Mara; ENGEL, Pedro. Rio de Janeiro: Revista Docomomo Brasil, v. 4, p. 45-57, 2022); “Mies and the primacy of the relations between space, structure and closure” (ESKINAZI, Mara. In: CAJA, Michele; FERRARI, Massimo; LANDSBERGER, Martina; LORENZI, Angelo; MONESTIROLI, Tomaso; NERI, Raffaella (editors). Mies van der Rohe. The Architecture of the City. Theory and Architecture. Padova: Il Poligrafo Casa Editrice, 2022, p. 166-175); “Towards an elementary architecture” (ESKINAZI, Mara; ENGEL, Pedro. São Paulo: Revista Thesis, v.2, p.3, 2017); book Interbau Berlim 1957. Hansaviertel: a cidade do amanhã (ESKINAZI, Mara. Rio de Janeiro: Ponteio Edições, 2011); “Niemeyer in Berlin” (ESKINAZI, Mara; COMAS, Carlos Eduardo. Porto Alegre: Revista Arqtexto, UFRGS, v.10-11, Niemeyer Estrangeiro, p. 114-155, 2008).

Among her forthcoming publications is the book Irmãos Roberto: Architectures for a City, which examines the housing buildings designed by the Roberto Brothers for Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the study of architectural design strategies that highlight the building’s urban dimension, such as the design of façades, sun protection elements, ground floor, and pilotis.