[bio]
Helena Cavalheiro is an architect working at the intersection of art, architecture, and urban culture. She splits her time between São Paulo (Brazil) and Berlin (Germany), developing research and design practices that investigate the relationships between these fields. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Architecture and Urbanism at FAU USP (São Paulo, Brazil). In 2021, with support from the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), and in 2024, with support from CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), Helena conducted part of her research Ordinary Architecture: Learning from the Existing in Berlin, a central theme of her ongoing academic activities. As an essayist, Helena writes on contemporary culture for publications such as SeLect magazine (Brazil) and the Artishock portal (Chile). Between 2019 and 2022, she also taught at Escola da Cidade School of Architecture (São Paulo, Brazil), where she was involved in both design and research courses. Since 2011, Helena has also gained recognition as an exhibition and installation architect, collaborating with major cultural institutions both in Brazil and abroad. Her work includes projects for the Fundação Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul (Porto Alegre, Brazil), Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, Sesc SP, the Museum of Art of São Paulo (MASP), Instituto Moreira Salles (São Paulo, Brazil), El Museo del Barrio (New York, USA), and daadgalerie (Berlin, Germany).
[contact]
+55 11 96317 1577
+49 155 10492729
[CV]
educational background
Ongoing, since 2022 . PhD candidate in Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Research area: Project, Space, and Culture. Project: Ordinary Architecture: learning from the existing. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Guilherme Teixeira Wisnik
2020 . Postgraduation in Architecture, Education, and Society, at Escola da Cidade Architecture School, São Paulo, Brazil. Monography: Jetarkte Crossing: Traveling, Building, Learning. Supervisors: Profs. Ana Carolina Tonetti and Maira Rios.
2019 . Master in Architecture and Urbanism at University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Research area: Project, Space, and Culture. Dissertation: The ambiguous form: dialogues between art, city, and the notion of ‘public’ in Brazil. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Agnaldo Farias.
2011 . Complementary training in art theory: Art after the Second World War: from Pollock to Conceptual Art. From Conceptual Art to Post-Modernism. Art Theory: art and life in the city. Arena: theoretical training in the arts and humanities. Professor Maria Helena Bernardes. Porto Alegre, Brazil. 150h.
2009 . Bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Completion project: Mauá Manifesto: an Urban Seam in Porto Alegre’s Downtown. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Benamy Turkienicz. Nominated for the 2009 Opera Prima Award.
fellowships and awards
2024 . PhD research grant Print/USP program, awarded by CAPES [Brazilian Academic Federal Funding Agency]. 6-month research stay in the city of Berlin, Germany, linked to the Institute of Architecture at Technische Universität Berlin.
2021 . Research grant for Study Visits for Academics in Art and Architecture, offered by the German funding agency DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), with the project Ordinary Architecture: learning from the existing. 90-day research stay in Berlin, Germany.
2015 . APCA Award - São Paulo Association of Art Critics - Cultural Heritage in Architecture and Urbanism category. Renovation of MASP - São Paulo Museum of Art. In association with Metro Arquitetos.
2012 . APCA Award - São Paulo Association of Art Critics Association of São Paulo - Frontiers of Architecture category. Exhibition design for the 30th São Paulo Art Biennial. In association with Metro Arquitetos.
2006 . CAIXA IAB Award - Caixa Econômica Federal and the Institute of Architects of Brazil. Social Housing Category. In association with Ana Claudia Vettoretti, Cristina Gondim, Gabriel Gondim, Janaina Kalsing, Fabio Zimbres and Antônio Jose Alvares de Abreu.
architectural - artistic research
Since 2021. Berlin, a state of mind. Ongoing research, linking architecture, art and anthropology. Related to the PhD research and to the awarded fellowships for research stays in Berlin.
2021 . Mar abierto [Open sea]. Visual essay. A collaboration for Re_vista 003, an online magazine held by Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, MX. Invitation by Paola Santoscoy, director of the musem.
2020 . Dissenting Windows. Participant in a collective project carried out by students and professors of the Architecture and Design School of São Paulo University. Overall coordination Prof. Dr. Giselle Beiguelman.
2020 . Travessia Jetarkte 2020 [Jetarkte Crossing] . Research trip carried out with professors and students from the School of Architecture and Design at the Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, in collaboration with the local community. Puerto Edén, Chile. General coordination Prof. Dr. Andrés Garcez and Prof. Dr. Marcelo Araya.
2019 . MSTC: Housing as a citizenship practice. Part of the researcher’s team from Escola da Cidade responsible, in collaboration with the community of the MSTC for the contents of the exhibition and publication, held at Chicago Architecture Biennale 2019. Coordination: Ana Carolina Tonetti and Luis Felipe Abbud. São Paulo, Brazil.
2018-2020 . Galeria Reocupa and Cozinha da Ocupação [Reocupa Gallery and Occupy Kitchen]. Participation in those two artistic research projects carried out in Ocupação 9 de Julho [9th July Occupy], a space that combines social housing with a set of cultural activities open to the community. São Paulo, Brazil.
2017 e 2018 . Creator of the workshop Cadernos de Campo: a cidade sem imagem [Field notebooks: the city with no image], a collective exercise of blind drifting in the urban space. Held in partnership with Casa Plana and Espaço Cultural Porto Seguro. São Paulo, Brazil. August 16, 2017 and May 21, 2018.
published writings
essays and articles published in newspapers and magazines
2024 . Héctor Zamora: as circunstâncias [Héctor Zamora: the Circumstances]. Artishock: revista de arte contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile.
2022 . Berlin, punto cero: notas de un reconocimiento [Berlin, ground zero: notes on a first glance]. Acto & Forma magazine: School of Design and Architecture of the Pontificia Universidad Católica. Valparaíso, Chile.
2020 . Perfil: Francis Kéré [Profile: Francis Keré]. SeLect: arte e cultura contemporânea (printed magazine), n. 47. São Paulo, Brasil.
2018 . Héctor Zamora cuestiona los sistemas de poder, clase y raza en Brasil [Héctor Zamora questions the systems of power, class and race in Brazil]. Artishock: revista de arte contemporáneo. Santiago, Chile
2017 . Sedução em escala monumental [Seduction on a monumental scale]. SeLect: arte e cultura contemporânea, n. 35. São Paulo, Brasil.
2015 . Do outro lado do muro: perguntas ao Cais Mauá de Todos [On the other side of the wall: questions to Cais Mauá de Todos]. Jornal Nossa Voz, São Paulo, Feb. 28, 2015.
papers presented and published in academic events
2019 . Viver o precário: Hélio Oiticica e a ‘virada pública’ de sua arte [Living the precarious: Hélio Oiticica and the 'public turn' of his art]. In: 2nd International Symposium on Systemic Relations of Art: Art Beyond Art, 2019, São Paulo.
2017 . O uso do espaço e do tempo nos limites entre a cidade e a instituição de arte - o caso do projeto Bar las Divas, de Hector Zamora [The use of space and time on the boundaries between the city and the art institution - the case of Hector Zamora's Bar las Divas project]. In: VIII Jornadas Arte y Ciudad / Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2017, Madrid.
2017 . Debater a cidade: obras de Hector Zamora [Debating the city: works by Hector Zamora]. In: III Seminar on Aesthetics and Art Criticism: The arts between urgency and inoperability, 2017, São Paulo.
editorial coordination
2020. Ainda o direito à cidade? [Still the right to the city?] 1. ed. São Paulo: Editora da Cidade, 2020. 240p .
2020. Habitando a barriga do montro [Inhabiting the belly of the beast]. 1. ed. São Paulo: Editora da Cidade, 2020. 258p .
exhibitions
2022 . Berlín, un estado mental [Berlin, a state of mind] . Video presented at the exhibition Crisis, part of the program of the 3rd International Seminar on Architecture and Ethnography. Centro Cultural España, Santiago, Chile.
2020. We are Still Alive. Video produced as part of Dissenting Windows’ research project. Bienal de la Imagen en Movimiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2019 . Autocrítica [Self-criticism] Site-specific intervention presented in the group exhibition What is not forest is political prison. Reocupa Gallery. 9th July Occupy, São Paulo, SP.
2019 . São Paulo: diálogos e limites [São Paulo: dialogues and limits]. Installation made together with Marcella Arruda, Alexandre Benoit and students from the Associação Escola da Cidade, at the XXI Bienal de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Santiago, Chile. Curated by Paula Monroy and others.
teaching
Since 2020 . Head teacher of the course Exhitibion Design: from Plan to Practice, held at Platô Studio, São Paulo, Brazil.
2022 . Teacher at the course Ways of seeying the Museum. With Nathalia Lavigne and Cássia Hosni. SESC Research and Training Center. São Paulo, Brazil.
2019-2022 . Associated professor at Escola da Cidade - School of Architecture and Urbanism, São Paulo, Brazil. Activities included: head professor of the elective course Ordinary architecture: learning from what exists (2021); collaborating professor in the biannual elective course Exhibition architecture: knowledge and practice, with Prof. Alvaro Razuk (2020 and 2021). Assistant professor at Estúdio Vertical, an interdisciplinary design studio that brings together all the Faculty's undergraduate students (2019-2020).
2021 . Head teacher of the course Public space, critical space: artistic practices in the boundaries between the institution and the city. SESC Research and Training Center. São Paulo, Brazil.
2017 . Assistant Professor in the course AUH28043 Introduction to Art and Architecture II, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Guilherme Teixeira Wisnik, linked to the History of Architecture and Design Aesthetics Department of the School of Architecture and Urbanism of São Paulo University (FAU USP), Brazil.
academic supervision and participation in boards
2021 . Supervision [Undergraduate Course]. Student Valentina Kacelnik. Title of work (book of chronicles): Todos os caminhos levam para casa [All roads lead home]. Escola da Cidade, São Paulo, Brazil.
2021 . External guest at Estúdio Vertical stalls. Groups 09, 18, 21 and 23. Escola da Cidade, São Paulo, Brazil.
2021 . External guest at Undergraduate Course Conclusion Work exam. Student Teresa Vicini Lodi. FAU Mackenzie, São Paulo.
2020 . External guest at Undergraduate Course Conclusion Work board. Students Alexandra da Silva Roque and Bianca Silveira Stecanela. FAU Ritter dos Reis, Porto Alegre.
2019 . External guest at the Undergraduate Course Conclusion Work board. Students Maria Victoria Rugde Leite and Eduardo Faria Cordeiro. FAU Mackenzie, São Paulo.
2019 Member of the scientific committee of the 21st Brazilian Congress of Architecture. Brazilian Institute of Architects. Porto Alegre, Brazil.
lectures
2021 Guest lecturer at 6th Architecture Week, promoted by the Bachelor's Degree in Architecture and Urbanism at the Senac University Center. São Paulo, Brazil.
2020 . Travel, building, learning: a Kawésqar shelter and a Yanomami school. Guest lecturer of Contemporary Culture Seminar, held at Escola da Cidade and curated by Guilherme Wisnik. São Paulo, Brazil.
2019 . Who does not fight is dead: learning about public art, politics and citizenship in the Occupy July 9th. Guest lecturer at XXI Architecture and Urbanism Biennial, Santiago, Chile. Curated by Paula Monroy and others. Santiago, Chile.
2019 . From plan to practice: producing an architecture biennial. Guest lecturer on 12th International Biennial of Architecture of São Paulo. São Paulo, Brazil.
2018 . Vila Itororó: experiments of a common life. Participant in the research laboratory at Vila Itororó Cultural Center. São Paulo, Brazil.
2016 . Transversal Cities. Debate organizer at Feira Plana, São Paulo, Brazil.
2016 . Member of a panel discussion at Cultural Decolonization Seminar promoted by the Ministry of Culture as part of the Culture and Thought programme, at the 61st Porto Alegre Book Fair. Porto Alegre. 2015
exhibition design
2024 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show La Trienal: Flowing States. Curatorship Rodrigo Moura, Susanna V. Temkin and Maria Elena Ortiz. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2024 . Head Architect in association with Eduardo Saorin . Exhibition design for the show Karim Aïnouz: BLAST! . daadgalerie, Berlin, Germany.
2024 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Amalia Mesa-Bain: Archaeology of Memory. Organization Susanna V. Temkin, Chloë Courtney, Marica and Jan Vilcek. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2024 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Cuerpo: Carlos Martiel. Curatorship Rodrigo Moura and Susanna V. Temkin. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2023 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the installation Hy Brazil, by Daniel Jablonski. Malta Biennale 2024, Malta.
2023 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Something Beautiful: Reframing la Colección. Curatorship by Rodrigo Moura, Susanna Temkin, and Lee Sessions. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2022. Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Giselle Beiguelman: Botannica Tirannica. Curatorship by Ilana Feldman. Jewish Museum of São Paulo. São Paulo, Brazil.
2022 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Domesticanxs. Curatorship by Susanna Temkin. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2022 . Conceptual design for the show Daido Moriyama: uma retrospectiva . Curatorship by Thyago Nogueira. Instituto Moreira Salles. São Paulo, Brazil.
2022 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Rafael Montañez Ortiz: a Contextual Retrospective. Curatorship by Rodrigo Moura e Julieta González. El Museo del Barrio. NYC, USA.
2021 . Head Architect . Exhibition design for the show Noa Eshkol: Collective Body. Curatorship by Marília Loureiro. Casa do Povo in association with 34th São Paulo Art Biennial. São Paulo, Brazil.
2021 . Head Architect. Exhibition design of the show Lotus Lobo: fabricação própria. Curated by Marcelo Drummond. Sesc Pompéia. São Paulo, Brazil.
2020 . Head Architect in association with Juliana Ziebell. Exhibition design of the show Farsa: língua, fratura ficção. Curated by Marta Mestre and Pollyana Quintella. Sesc Pompéia. São Paulo, Brazil.
2019 . Technical Producer of ten site-specific installations as part of Everyday Matters: 12th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial. Curated by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Vanessa Grossman and Ciro Miguel. Sesc 24 de Maio, São Paulo, Brazil.
2018-2019 . Head Architect. Exhibition design of the show Claudia Andujar: a luta Yanomami, curated by Thyago Nogueira. Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2017 . Head Architect. Exhibition design of the 11th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial: in process. Curated by Marcos Rosa. São Paulo, Brazil.
2017 . Head Architect and curator. Conception (in association with Carolina Tonetti and Tuca Vieira) and exhibition design of the show Cumbica: Tuca Viera. Casa do Povo, São Paulo, Brazil.
2016-2012 . Partner Architect of Metro Architects, studio based in São Paulo, Brazil. Participation in the designing processes and strategic planning of the studio. Coordinating Architect of several projects, among them: 2015-16 Architectural projects and exhibition designs for MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo, artistic direction by Adriano Pedrosa; 2016 exhibition design the show Post-Soviet Russia 1995/2015: Mauro Restiffe, curated by Snejana Krasteva, Garage Museum, Moscow, Russia; 2015 Casa Triângulo Art Gallery, São Paulo; 2015 exhibition design for Terra Comunal + MAI: Marina Abramovic, curated by Marina Abramovic and Jochen Volz, Sesc Pompeia, São Paulo, Brazil; 2015 exhibition design for A cor americana: William Eggleston, curated by Thyago Nogueira, Instituto Moreira Salles, Rio de Janeiro; 2014 exhibition design for Cidade Gráfica, curated by Elaine Ramos, Celso Longo and Daniel Trench, Itaú Cultural, São Paulo; 2012-13 Exhibition design for the 30th Art Biennial of São Paulo and its itinerancies, curated by Luis Pérez-Oramas, André Severo and Tobias Mayer, Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil.
2011 . Head Architect in association with Eduardo Saorin. Architectural and exhibition design of the shows and living spaces of 8th Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial. Curated by José Roca, Paola Santoscoy, Alexia Tala, Cauê Alves and Aracy Amaral. Porto Alegre, Brazil.