TheEsplanadadoCasteloandtheCapanemaPalace

In the quadrilateral formed by Rua São José and the avenues Antônio Carlos, Beira-Mar, and Graça Aranha, there are traces of modern architecture and of Rio de Janeiro's political and social life in the 1930s and 1940s. But there are also the paradoxes and contradictions of its modernization. The Morro do Castelo, dismantled in the 1920s, acts as a ghost that haunts the city and can be seen in the slopes of Avenida Nilo Peçanha toward Rio Branco, in the positioning of the Igreja de Santa Luzia in the landscape, in the slope connecting Antônio Carlos to Praça XV, and in the stretch of the Ladeira da Misericórdia that remained.

In this part of Downtown, there is a set of symbols that, in other eras, sparked disputes, such as that between Le Corbusier and Agache, monumentality confronting the city's republican traditions. The Capanema Palace is the most significant example of Brazilian modern architecture influenced by Le Corbusier. The original building of the Ministry of Education and Public Health, created by Getúlio Vargas and inspired by a modernism different from the one announced by Agache, the lightness and conciseness of its forms went against the weight of the total occupation of the land and the artistic characteristics of the Beaux-Arts style. When Gustavo Capanema took over the ministry in 1934, he expressed to Vargas the need for a building for the ministry – which had been housed either in the City Council or in rooms of the Rex building – and his request was granted thanks to the donation that mayor Pedro Ernesto made of a plot of land in the large space resulting from the demolition of Morro do Castelo.

So, Capanema opened a competition to choose the project, with a call for entries that included the prospect of dialogue with the new era and with modernism. The jury, chaired by himself, though without voting rights, was made up of professionals from the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, which, at the time, still had an architecture course. The winning project was the Pax project by Archimedes Memória, director of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes and author of the designs for Palácio Tiradentes and Palácio Pedro Ernesto. However, both the minister and many of his collaborators, aligned with modernist ideals, saw no coherence between the innovative program he intended to implement while heading the ministry and Archimedes's project, which had a backward-looking look that blended the neoclassical style with Marajoara decorative elements.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a modernist building. On the left side, we see a structure with rectangular shapes and vertical windows. On the right, there is a taller building with columns and a flat façade. In the center, a wide, open staircase leads up to the upper level. In the background, there is an open area with a few people walking.

The result was accepted, Capanema paid the prize and dismissed the project. He then summoned Lúcio Costa, a recognized authority as an architect, who refused to do the project alone and proposed forming a team made up of Carlos Leão, Affonso Reidy, Jorge Moreira, Ernani Vasconcellos, and Oscar Niemeyer, all graduates of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes. In order to give the project greater legitimacy, he invited Le Corbusier to provide consulting and give lectures to the group.

Image description: This is a black-and-white group photograph. In the image, four men are seated side by side in metal chairs. From left to right, the first man is smiling, wearing a casual suit with jeans and leather shoes. Next to him, the second man is standing, wearing dark sunglasses and a classic suit with a bow tie. The third man is seated, also in a suit and tie, with his hands folded in his lap. The fourth man, on the right, is standing, wearing glasses and a white shirt. Everyone appears to be indoors, possibly in a waiting room or auditorium.

The architectural innovations included the glass facade (curtain wall), the movable horizontal panels (brise-soleil) that protect the building's interior from direct sunlight, created by Le Corbusier, the creation of garden terraces, and the ground floor with pilotis. Roberto Burle Marx's landscaping, Candido Portinari's frescoes, and the sculptures by Celso Antônio de Menezes and Adriana Janacópulos gave the Palace its national character.

Image description: This is a black-and-white illustration of an architectural complex. On the left side, there is a low building with a sloped roof. In front of it, there is an open area with railings and a few people walking. In the center, there is a tall, large building with a rectangular façade and windows arranged vertically. In front of this building, there is a row of palm trees. On the right, there is another building with a vertical façade and horizontal windows. The illustration is drawn in perspective, showing an urban area with buildings and vegetation.

Listed as a heritage site in 1948, it once housed the headquarters of Iphan and the Ministry of Culture (MinC). In 2016, President Michel Temer tried to abolish the latter, but protesters occupied the building until the measure was revoked. Unfortunately, in 2019, the Bolsonaro government managed to carry out Temer's intent, downgrading it to a secretariat subordinate to the Ministry of Tourism.

Image description: This is a photograph of a complex of urban buildings. On the left side, there is a large office building with many glass windows, reflecting the sunlight. Next to it, there is a lower, rectangular building with a light-colored façade and many smaller windows. Both buildings are surrounded by trees and green plants. In the background, there are other buildings and a partial view of a green area. The sky is blue with some scattered clouds.