In this article, Lucio Costa discusses the changes he believes are necessary to facilitate an understanding of modern architecture: changes that while not necessarily rejecting the past do not conform to the academic point of view. The article specifically critiques the model suggested by José Marianno, the main spokesperson for the neocolonial movement, a group that preferred a form of architecture that was based on languages and styles borrowed from the past. 

The Salão de 31 exhibition was a first attempt to formally address the “modern” questions in academic curricula. The event attracted young artists as well as those who had taken part in the Semana de Arte Moderna in 1922, and had a considerable impact in Brazilian art circles at the time. Despite its role in the dismissal of Lucio Costa from his position as director of the organizing institution, the ENBA (Escola Nacional de Belas Artes) brought about a number of significant changes, including the creation of the future Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna.

The Salão de 31, which was also known as the 38ª Exposição de Belas Artes, took place during the brief administration of architect Lucio Costa. It contributed to substantial changes in Brazilian art by trying to introduce modern art into the academic realm of institutions devoted to art instruction and promotion.  

Lucio Costa (1902–1998), the French-born Brazilian architect and urban planner, was the director of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in 1930, at which time he proposed a number of changes in the art and architecture curricula that made it possible for modern artists to take part in the Salão Nacional de Belas Artes in 1931 [in the ICAA digital archive, see the essay by the painter, Candido Portinari, on the “Salão Lucio Costa” (doc. no. 1111007). Costa and Capanema agreed that Portinari should be involved in the MES (Ministério de Educação e Saúde) project, to which Costa contributed his “Considerações sobre arte contemporânea” (doc. no. 1110999).