Signature · Architecture · Angra dos Reis (RJ)
Harry James Cole
The urban planner credited with designing the Complexo Turístico Porto Bracuhy in the 1970s — the navigable canals that still define the highest standard of Angra dos Reis today.
Who he is
Harry James Cole is identified, in the marketing material of the developments on the Bracuhy peninsula, as the author of the urban concept for the Complexo Turístico Porto Bracuhy, designed in the 1970s in Angra dos Reis. The approach was bold for the time and remains rare: instead of subdividing the hillside and looking at the sea from afar, it excavated the mainland and brought the sea to each house’s front door — wide, deep canals, dry and wet marinas, squares, roads and gathering areas designed as a single ensemble.
It is from this layout that the condominiums now occupying the peninsula were born, among them Porto Marina Bracuhy and Reserva das Aroeiras. This entry records the credit as published by the development’s own sources.
Language
- Style: nautical urbanism — water as the structuring axis of the subdivision, not as a backdrop.
- Materials and signature: excavated navigable canals, deep enough for mooring in front of the residence; dry and wet marinas integrated into the design.
- Awards: (to be researched.)
Landmark works
- Complexo Turístico Porto Bracuhy, in Angra dos Reis — the urban basis for Porto Marina Bracuhy and Reserva das Aroeiras.
Signatures in the portfolio
No development in the collection carries this signature yet — it is here for the weight of the name in São Paulo's high end.
