Flip through the archive of a national daily newspaper
In collaboration with Folha de S.Paulo
Read all about it!
Founded in 1921, Folha is one of Brazil's largest and most influential newspapers. It began as Folha da Noite. In the early 1960s, it was renamed Folha de S.Paulo, a name still used today, in honor of the city where it is based (São Paulo).
Folha interviewed many influential names from Brazil and abroad, from all areas of interest, from great singers such as Gilberto Gil and Elza Soares, to international leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Mikhail Gorbachev.
In the 1960s, Folha became one of the first newspapers in Brazil to use the color offset printing method. In 1995, it was the first newspaper in the country to have an online edition.
Reflecting its concern for high quality and reliable reporting, Folha became the first media outlet in Brazil to have an Ombudsman position, a job dedicated to analyzing and verifying the quality of the publication, as well as hearing the complaints of the readers.
In September 2023, Folha registered 795,000 daily paid copies, taking into account the online and print versions (source Instituto Verificador de Circulação). This figure puts the newspaper in a leading position in the Brazilian press.
Keep exploring the 10K+ images and 60 stories to relieve or discover some of the most important moments in Brazilian history captured through the Folha lenses.
Featured history story
A pedestrian crosses Paulista Avenue, the first street in the city to be paved. Opened in 1891, Paulista Avenue is now home to one of Brazil's main financial centers. It often features on the city's picture postcards.
A view of the tunnel on Nove de Julho Avenue, one of the main access routes linking São Paulo's South Zone with the city center. With a separate tunnel going in each direction, it was built beneath Paulista Avenue and opened on July 23, 1938.
A view of the Anhangabaú Valley. In the 19th century, the valley was full of farms growing tea and watercress. The Anhangabaú stream once ran through its center, but was channeled in the early 20th century.
In later decades, the area would be the scene of large-scale political demonstrations. Today, the Anhangabaú Valley is one of the main public leisure spaces in São Paulo's old town.
Pedestrians cross Ipiranga Avenue in one of São Paulo's busiest areas.
Ipiranga Avenue was built in the 19th century. Its intersection with São João Avenue is one of the most famous in São Paulo, immortalized in the 1978 song Sampa by the Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso.
São João Avenue on the last day that streetcars ran along it. Two years later, in 1968, the mayor, José Vicente de Faria Lima, would ban streetcars all across the city.
The facade of the Othon Palace Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in São Paulo's old town at the time. The building opened in 1954, just months after São Paulo's 400th anniversary celebrations on January 25.
One of the busiest parts of the city, República Square (Praça da República) was originally known as Largo dos Curros—or Pen Square—as it had been the site of bullfights during the 19th century.
Firefighters keep an eye on Luz Station (Estação da Luz) in downtown São Paulo after a fire spread through the building. The station only reopened in 1951, when rebuilding works were complete. Originally built as a gateway to the city, it opened as a passenger station in 1902.
Passengers wait for a train to arrive at Luz Station. During the 19th century, it was the entry point for goods coming from the Port of Santos on the state's coast.
A view of Jardim da Luz Park. The oldest park in São Paulo, it was created in 1798, when it was known as the Horto Botânico (Botanical Orchard).
Construction of the new Assis Chateaubriand São Paulo Art Museum on Paulista Avenue. Opened in 1946, the museum was originally housed in a building on 7 de Abril Street before moving to its new home, designed by the Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, in November 1968.
A view of João Mendes Square in downtown São Paulo. Opened in 1757 with the name São Gonçalo Square (Largo de São Gonçalo), it is today home to Brazil's largest civil court, the João Mendes Forum.
The facade of the church of São José de Anchieta in the Pateo do Collegio. The square marks the city's birthplace in 1554, as the spot chosen by the Jesuit priest Father Anchieta to build a church where the local Indigenous population would be converted to Catholicism. All that remains of that original building is a wall made out of mud and clay.
The monument built in honor of the founders of São Paulo stands in Pateo do Collegio square. It was designed by the Italian Amadeo Zani and unveiled in 1925.
The University of São Paulo's Law School building, in downtown São Paulo, is one of the country's oldest higher education institutions.
Founded in 1827 in São Francisco Square, the faculty was one of the main centers of resistance against Brazil's military dictatorship.
A side view of the Martinelli Building in downtown São Paulo, which was commissioned by the entrepreneur Giuseppe Martinelli and completed in 1929.
At 344 feet (105 m) tall, it was São Paulo's first and tallest skyscraper. It held this record until 1947, when the 528-foot (161 m) Altino Arantes building opened nearby.
A view of the 1913 Santa Ifigênia Viaduct. Its structure was made of metal imported from Belgium, and it was pedestrianized in the late 1970s.
A view of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black Men in Paissandu Square, downtown São Paulo.
The first church was built in 1725 by the Brotherhood of Black Men (Irmandade dos Homens Pretos) in São Paulo, so that the city's Black population would have a place for communion. It originally stood in Rosário Square (now Antônio Prado Square), but was demolished and rebuilt in its current location in the 20th century.
A view of Roosevelt Square in the central São Paulo neighborhood of Consolação, 16 years before the square was completed in 1970.
A crowd opposite the Mário de Andrade Library for a vigil for the author Monteiro Lobato, who died on July 4, 1948. Founded in 1925 as the São Paulo Municipal Library, the Mário de Andrade is the city's largest public library.
The first building in São Paulo to be fully lit by electricity, the São Paulo Municipal Theater (Theatro Municipal) opened in September 1911, with a performance of the opera Hamlet by French composer Ambroise Thomas.
In February 1922, the theater hosted Modern Art Week, an art festival that would have a huge impact in Brazil.
A nocturnal view of 23 de Maio Avenue, one of the major roads linking São Paulo's South Zone with the downtown area.
First conceived in 1927, the avenue would be known under two other names, Itororó and Anhangabaú, before being registered as 23 de Maio Avenue in 1954. However, the avenue would not be officially opened until it was fully paved and completed in January 1969.
A crowd fills what was then called the Costa and Silva Elevated Highway—popularly known as Minhocão (Big Earthworm)—for its opening on January 24, 1971. At the time, Brazil was living under the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985.
In 2016, the highway was renamed the President João Goulart Elevated Highway, in honor of the president deposed by the 1964 military coup.
Fans queue outside the Paulo Machado de Carvalho Municipal Stadium—better known as the Pacaembu Stadium—to watch a soccer friendly between Brazil and the former Czechoslovakia. The stadium was opened by the mayor in April 1940.
People enjoy themselves in Ibirapuera Park, one of São Paulo's most visited leisure spaces. Built to host the celebrations for the city's 400th anniversary in 1954, the park was designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer and is considered a milestone of modern Brazilian architecture.
Also called the Obelisk of Ibirapuera, after the park where it stands, the monument was designed by Italian-Brazilian sculptor Galileo Ugo Emendabili and was unveiled in 1955. It was erected to honor those who fought in the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution and holds the mortal remains of 4 students and 713 other victims who died during the conflict.
Trenches 10 feet (3 m) deep, dug by workers from the Water and Sewage Department on Fidalga Street in Pinheiros—one of São Paulo's oldest neighborhoods, in the city's West Zone.
Qualifying rounds for the Mil Milhas Mirim children's car race, in which 128 competitors between the ages of 8 and 12 and raced little wooden cars along Rebouças Avenue. It is now one of São Paulo's busiest streets.
The avenue was named in honor of engineer and abolitionist from Bahia State, André Rebouças (1838–98), at the beginning of the 20th century.
A nighttime view of Santo Amaro Avenue, one of the main access roads linking São Paulo's South Zone with the downtown area.
The avenue is in the Santo Amaro district, which was created as a separate municipality in 1832. A state decree officially incorporated Santo Amaro into the city of São Paulo in 1935. Covering an area of 240 square miles (640 square km), it now forms part of the city's South Zone.
A street in the Capão Redondo district. Once a rural area in São Paulo's South Zone, it is now home to some of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Officially named in 1912, it was originally part of the former city of Santo Amaro (1832–1935), which has since been incorporated into the city of São Paulo.
Considered the most important freeway in the city, the Marginal Tietê Freeway (officially the Professor Simão Faiguenboim Road or SP-015) was built along the Tietê River and opened in 1957.
Widened in 2010 by São Paulo's City Hall (Prefeitura), it is an extension of the Marginal Pinheiros freeway of the same name.
Marginal Pinheiros, the city's second most important freeway, runs alongside the Pinheiros River. Building works began in the 1950s, but the road was not opened until 1970.
Earthworks at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo's South Zone. The airport opened in 1936 and was the third largest in the world in terms of air cargo volume by 1957.
Trucks coming into the city from inland São Paulo and elsewhere unload their goods at São Paulo's Municipal Market (Mercado Municipal). Located in downtown São Paulo and also known as the Mercadão (meaning big market), it is one of the city's main food wholesale centers.
A train runs through a street market on Cruzeiro do Sul Avenue in the Santana neighborhood. Known as Cantareira Avenue until 1932, the road is one of the main thoroughfares linking São Paulo's North Zone with the downtown area.
A streetcar crosses the Casa Verde Bridge in São Paulo's North Zone. The current concrete bridge was built in the 1950s to replace the original wooden structure, which dated from around 1915.
Opened in 1967, the viaduct is located on the Radial Leste, the main thoroughfare linking São Paulo's East Zone with the downtown area.
The Canindé favela sprang up in 1948 on a piece of land belonging to São Paulo's City Hall (Prefeitura), becoming home to families who were driven out of privately owned areas. It featured in Quarto de Despejo (The Trash Room), the autobiography by Black female author Maria Carolina de Jesus, which describes the daily life of poverty in there.
City in the spotlight: São Paulo
Moments of everyday life
Culture highlights
On April 6, 1965, Excelsior TV put on the grand finale of the 1st National Brazilian Popular Music Festival, which introduced Elis Regina—who sang the winning song, Arrastão, by Vinicius de Moraes and Edu Lobo—to a national audience.
This was the first time a music contest had been broadcast on TV in Brazil, and it marked the start of an era in which the great singers and songwriters of Brazilian popular music would become revered. The genre even became known simply by its Portuguese acronym, MPB (música popular brasileira).
In 1966, the Festival was held for a second year, and it would be the last time that Excelsior TV broadcast the musical extravaganza. The winning song was Porta Estandarte, written by Geraldo Vandré and Fernando Lona, and performed by Tuca and the singer-songwriter Airto Moreira, who was part of the group Quarteto Novo at the time.
It was after seeing an ad in a newspaper that the then unknown singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento (pictured) entered this second edition of the contest, finishing fourth with Baden Powell and Lula Freire's Cidade Vazia.
Later that year, Solano Ribeiro, the artistic producer who dreamed up the contest, would take the show's format to Record TV, which took over as the main broadcaster of Brazilian popular music festivals.
In September 1966, Record TV opened the doors of its theater in São Paulo for the 2nd Brazilian Popular Music Festival. The company had broadcast the 1960 edition on its radio channel, but this would be the first time it would air the show on TV.
In an unprecedented twist during the final, the organizers decided that two of the finalists should win the prize for best song: Disparada, written by Geraldo Vandré and Théo de Barros and sung by Jair Rodrigues (left), and A Banda, written by Chico Buarque (right) and performed by Nara Leão (center).
Dori Caymmi (left) and Nelson Motta co-wrote Saveiros. Performed by Nana Caymmi, it was the winning song in the Brazilian round of the 1st International Song Festival.
The International Song Festival was an annual event between 1966 and 1972. It was broadcast by Globo TV, with Rio TV also airing the first edition in 1966.
The contest was split into two rounds (national and international) and its seven-year run made it the longest-running music contest on Brazilian TV.
On the evening of October 21, 1967, the song Ponteio, written by Edu Lobo and Capinam, and performed by Edu Lobo and Marília Medalha, was crowned the winner of Record TV's 3rd Brazilian Popular Music Festival, beating 11 other finalists. The Record TV show was the most-watched song contest in Brazil.
That year's edition was also significant because it gave two young contestants from Bahia, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, the opportunity to break onto the scene with their brand of what would become known as Tropicália. Their experimental sound and esthetics were a move away from the cultural traditionalism of the time.
Gilberto Gil's Domingo no Parque, which Gil himself performed with backing from the group Os Mutantes, came second in the contest. With its mixture of orchestra, acoustic and electric guitars, and berimbau (a single-string percussion instrument), it became one of the most memorable songs from the song contests of the time.
Gilberto Gil had entered one of his songs in the 1966 Festival—Ensaio Geral, performed by Elis Regina. Later that year, he also entered the 1st International Song Festival with Minha Senhora, a song he co-wrote with Torquato Neto and that was performed at the festival by Gal Costa.
Chico Buarque and the group MPB-4 perform Roda Viva, which came third out of the 12 finalists. This song, with its traditional sound and revolutionary lyrics, was one of the standout moments of the extraordinary 1967 contest.
Backed by the Argentinian band Beat Boys, Caetano Veloso sings his own song Alegria Alegria, which finished fourth. Along with Gilberto Gil's Domingo no Parque, the song brought a new vision to Brazilian music, which was already undergoing transformation as the bossa nova era drew to a close.
The singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos and O Grupo perform Luiz Carlos Paraná's Maria, Carnaval e Cinzas. Already well known because of his leading role in the early rock 'n' roll Jovem Guarda (Young Guard) movement, and as one of biggest idols of young Brazilians at the time, Roberto Carlos ventured into samba at the 1967 festival and came fifth.
The following year, Roberto Carlos would win the 18th Italian International Song Festival, better known as the Sanremo Festival, with Sergio Endrigo's Canzone per Te.
In one of the most remarkable moments of the 1967 song contest, the veteran performer Sérgio Ricardo was greeted with boos from the 2,000-strong audience, which made it impossible for the singer to perform his samba song Beto Bom de Bola.
The singer's unexpected response was to smash his guitar and throw it into the audience and, as a result, his song was disqualified from the competition. The following year, Sérgio Ricardo's song Dia de Graça would finish fifth at the festival.
At the 2nd International Song Festival in 1967, the winning song was Margarida, which was written and performed by Gutemberg Guarabira with backing from Grupo Manifesto.
Having entered three songs, two of which made it through to the final of the contest, singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento (pictured) won best singer for his performance of Travessia, which he co-wrote with Fernando Brant. The song also finished second overall at the festival.
In November 1968, Tom Zé, the singer-songwriter from Bahia, took his São Paulo-inspired São São Paulo Meu Amor to first place at Record TV's 4th Brazilian Popular Music Festival.
As well as best song, Tom Zé also won the prize for best lyrics for his revolutionary song 2001, which he co-wrote with Rita Lee. At the time, Rita Lee was a member of the group Os Mutantes and they performed the song at the festival, finishing fourth overall.
In 2014, during an interview for Folha TV, Tom Zé recalled his inspiration for the song São São Paulo Meu Amor, which came first at Record TV's 4th Brazilian Popular Music Festival.
Edu Lobo and Marília Medalha, who had performed the winning song Ponteio at the 1967 festival, return to the Record TV stage to sing Memórias de Marta Saré. Written by Edu Lobo and the actor and playwright Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, the song would come second in the 1968 edition.
Another highlight of the 1968 festival was Gal Costa's performance of the electrifying song Divino Maravilhoso, written by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. The song, which finished third, was highly politicized and reinforced the mood of resistance that Gil and Caetano had brought to the festival in 1967.
On December 13, 1968, four days after the festival's final was held, Brazil's military government introduced Institutional Act No. 5, commonly known as AI-5. It introduced authoritarian measures such as the imprisonment of political opponents and preventative censorship of the press and the arts.
In 1968, Record TV hosted the 1st Biannual Samba Festival, which featured young artists such as Paulinho da Viola, Chico Buarque, and Paulo César Pinheiro, as well as veteran performers like Cartola, Ataulfo Alves, and Pixinguinha.
First place at the festival went to the Afro-samba song Lapinha, which was written by Baden Powell and Paulo César Pinheiro, and performed by Elis Regina with the group Os Originais do Samba.
The second and last edition of the festival was held in 1971. The winning entry was the highly acclaimed song Pisa Nesse Chão com Força, which was written and performed by the singer-songwriter Geovana.
Cynara and Cybele sing Tom Jobim and Chico Buarque's Sábia. Despite a lot of booing from the audience, the song came first in both the national and international rounds of the Globo TV festival.
In second place was the event's most applauded song, Pra Não Dizer que Não Falei das Flores, which was written and performed by Geraldo Vandré. It was considered the song most symbolic of the struggle against the military dictatorship, which had seized power in Brazil in 1964.
It was to the sound of jeers that Caetano Veloso, backed by the group Os Mutantes, performed his anti-establishment song É Proibido Proibir during the state round of the 3rd International Song Festival in São Paulo on September 15, 1968.
Unhappy with the booing, the singer launched into an impromptu rant at the audience and the jury, calling the jury members “really nice but useless,” which led to his song being disqualified.
Record TV's 5th Brazilian Popular Music Festival brought to a close the successful series of events that had played a huge role in the growth of the music scene in Brazil.
The winning song was the masterful Sinal Fechado, written and performed by samba musician Paulinho da Viola. The song would become one of the great classics of Brazilian music.
Voted the best up-and-coming singer at the 4th International Song Festival, 18-year-old Evinha sang the winning song Cantiga por Luciana, written by Edmundo Souto and Paulinho Tapajós.
The winning songs in the last editions of the International Song Festival were Antônio Adolfo and Tibério Gaspar's BR-3 (1970), performed by Tony Tornado and the Trio Ternura; Paulinho Soares and Marcelo Silva's Kyrie (1971), again performed by the Trio Ternura; and Jorge Benjor's Fio Maravilha (1972), performed by Maria Alcina (pictured).
The crossword section
Featured travel story
The curves found in Brazil's clouds, mountains, and rivers inspired Oscar Niemeyer's innovative and unmistakable style. Hailing from the Laranjeiros neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, he would become the most famous Brazilian architect of all time.
One of the architect's most significant works is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi—widely known as Pampulha Church—which was built between 1942 and 1943 in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais State.
Along with the Golf Yacht Club, the Ballroom, and the Casino (now the Pampulha Art Museum), Pampulha Church forms part of the Pampulha Architectural Ensemble (Conjunto Arquitetônico da Pampulha) and was Niemeyer's first and most important Modernist work.
The work was commissioned by the then mayor of Belo Horizonte, Juscelino Kubitschek (1940–46), who wanted the Minas Gerais State capital to have a space for religion, leisure, and tourism. In 2016, the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Two famous painters were involved in building the church: Paulo Werneck, who was responsible for the mosaics on the chapel's side walls, and Cândido Portinari, who created the exterior panel on the rear facade and the paintings inside.
As the first Modernist religious building in Brazil, Pampulha Church faced opposition from the church authorities and was only consecrated in 1959, 15 years after its initial design. Today, the church is considered Belo Horizonte's most important tourist landmark.
It was by invitation from Lúcio Costa, the pioneer of modern architecture in Brazil, that Niemeyer joined the team of architects working on the new Ministry of Education and Health building in Rio de Janeiro, in 1936. Today, the building is known as the Gustavo Capanema Palace.
Considered a hallmark of Modernist architecture in Brazil, the project was overseen by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, one of the world's leading exponents of modern architecture.
The team working on the project included young architects Carlos Leão, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Ernani Vasconcellos, and Jorge Moreira, visual artist Cândido Portinari, landscaper Burle Marx, and sculptors Bruno Giorgi, Celso Antônio, Jacques Lipchitz, and Adriana Janacópulos.
Built at the request of the then minister for education and health, Gustavo Capanema Filho, the building featured some of Le Corbusier's five points of architecture, including pilotis (slender columns) and a free facade. It was opened in 1945 and set a new standard for Brazilian architecture.
In 1952, work started on the Copan building—Latin America's largest housing complex, with 1,160 apartments. It was originally intended to be a hotel and tourism complex, and there was a rush to finish it in time for São Paulo's 400th anniversary, in 1954.
The project came about through a partnership between the North American International Hotels Corporation, which would later abandon the venture, and the National Real Estate Bank (Banco Nacional Imobiliário or BNI), owned by Roxo Loureiro and Octavio Frias de Oliveira, who would take over the Folha de São Paulo newspaper in 1962.
When President Getúlio Vargas's suicide caused a national crisis in 1954, financial difficulties forced the BNI to put the project on hold. Building work would resume in 1956, the year Niemeyer left the project to focus on building Brasília, Brazil's new capital.
In 1957, Bradesco Bank (Banco Bradesco) took over construction after buying the bankrupt BNI's assets. It hired architect Carlos Lemos—who had worked in Niemeyer's office in São Paulo—to oversee continuation of the building works, but Copan would not officially open until 1966.
On the building's 50th anniversary in 2016, Copan residents talk about what it is like to live in Brazil's largest apartment block.
Built to host the celebrations for São Paulo's 400th anniversary in 1954, Ibirapuera Park was a milestone in “Brazil's definitive acceptance of modern architecture,” according to Carlos Lemos—a member of Niemeyer's team of architects who designed the park's buildings.
In Niemeyer's design, there are six buildings, all different in shape, with five of them linked by a huge covered walkway. The landscaping was created by agricultural engineer Otávio Augusto Teixeira Mendes, who replaced the original landscaper Burle Marx.
On December 12, 1953, with only two of the park's pavilions built, the opening date was brought forward so that it could host the 2nd São Paulo Art Biennial. The official opening, originally scheduled in time for the city's 400th anniversary, was delayed for six months and finally took place on August 21, 1954.
Offering leisure, culture, and extensive green spaces, Ibirapuera Park is the most visited in São Paulo. In 2013, a survey by the US website TripAdvisor, named it the best park in Latin America and, the following year, the eighth best park in the world.
Popularly known as the "eye", due to its peculiar architecture, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum located in Curitiba, Paraná was designed in 1947 by the architect who lends his name to the museum.
The building was originally designed to house the headquarters of the Paraná Education Institute, but today it is occupied by the art museum, which is considered the largest in Latin America, with more than 35,000 square meters of built area.
In 1956, Niemeyer was asked by the then president, Juscelino Kubitschek, to build the new government buildings representing the three powers of the Brazilian Republic in Brasília, the country's new capital city.
Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes) is home to the Planalto Palace, the National Congress, and the Federal Supreme Court. Work to build the Planalto Palace—the President of the Republic's headquarters—began on July 10, 1958.
The idea to transfer the Brazilian capital from Rio de Janeiro to the country's central region was hatched shortly after Brazil was proclaimed a republic. The plan was even mentioned in the country's first constitution, which was ratified in 1891 by the government of the first Brazilian president, Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca.
The Planalto Palace was officially opened on April 21, 1960, as part of the celebrations for the founding of Brasília—the country's new capital, with urban design by the architect Lúcio Costa.
The National Congress in the Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes) is one of the most frequently visited tourist spots in Brazil's federal capital, and one of Niemeyer's most distinctive buildings. It too was officially opened on April 21, 1960, as part of the festivities to celebrate the founding of Brasília.
The National Congress—the seat of legislative power—is made up of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (or House of Representatives). It is where the major political debates take place and the laws governing the country are drafted.
With its twin towers and two domes—one concave and the other convex—the National Congress is considered one of modern Brazilian architecture's most iconic buildings.
On December 6, 2007, nine days before Niemeyer's 100th birthday, the National Congress complex was given listed status by the advisory council at the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional).
Niemeyer's love of curved lines provided the inspiration for yet another of his iconic works: the Federal Supreme Court Palace, home to the highest court in Brazil (the Supremo Tribunal Federal).
The current Supreme Court building was opened on April 21, 1960—along with the other two government buildings in the Three Powers Plaza (Praça dos Três Poderes)—as part of Brasília's inauguration celebrations.
Guardian of the Federal Constitution, the Federal Supreme Court traces its origins to Portugal. It came to Brazil with the Portuguese Royal Family in 1808, becoming known as the House of Appeals of Brazil (Casa da Suplicação do Brasil).
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Aparecida, better known as the Cathedral of Brasília, is one of Niemeyer's most important works. The cathedral's cornerstone was laid in 1958, but the building was not finished until May 31, 1970—12 years later.
The key features of the Cathedral's eye-catching design are its series of columns forming a hyperboloid shape, and its stained glass artwork. The artist responsible for the windows was the Franco-Brazilian Marianne Peretti—the only woman on Niemeyer's team. She died on April 25, 2022, at the age of 94.
In 1988, this building earned Niemeyer architecture's most prestigious award—the Pritzker Prize, which has been presented by the US-based Hyatt Foundation every year since 1979.
Opened on September 2, 1996, the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (MAC de Niterói) in Greater Rio de Janeiro is another of Niemeyer's breathtaking works, and one of the most visited.
Built in the shape of a chalice and resembling a flying saucer, building work on the museum started in May 1991. Located on top of the Boa Viagem lookout point, it offers a panoramic view over Guanabara Bay and its surrounding mountains.
Niemeyer drew the first sketch for the museum on a paper napkin while he was having lunch with friends, shortly after the site had been chosen.
Standing over 52 feet (16 m) tall, the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum was opened with an exhibition of works by Alfredo Volpi, Franz Krajcberg, José Resende, Hélio Oiticica, and Tomie Ohtake.
Featured sport story
There are so many instances where soccer impacts and defines the country that it is hard to understand how it all began. Historically and factually, this passion began in 1894 when the Englishman Charles Miller arrived in Brazil, bringing balls, materials, and sports manuals. He surely didn’t foresee the impact and significance it would have for decades to come.
Soccer, as a sport, is a team game that simulates duels between attack and defense, forward and defender, dynamic actions on the wings, midfield, i.e., an endless series of variations, with the objective of scoring a goal: a metaphor for success, overcoming challenges, and reaching a target.
It would just be that if soccer took place only within the four lines that demarcate its pitch. However, as anyone remotely familiar with the sport knows, soccer also takes place in the stands, in homes in front of the TV, at the corner bar, and with friends. Soccer is about unity and collectivity.
Over the years that followed Charles Miller’s arrival, the sport underwent several changes. From being a stronghold of the enlightened elite, soccer underwent inevitable popularization, spreading to all corners of the country, in places where even a small space can serve as a pitch. Because soccer is kind and inclusive, a small patch of land is enough to ignite players’ imaginations and transport them to the big stadiums.
Maracanã, Morumbi, Allianz Parque, Itaquerão, Engenhão, Vila Belmiro – numerous Brazilian stadiums have witnessed epic battles where titles were won and glories were achieved: moments that made life more meaningful, both on and off the pitch.
Soccer is a team of people from the neighborhood, of friends, of coworkers. But it is also a clash between nations and regions, allowing smaller, poorer, and less significant countries to face global powers on a relatively equal footing. Cameroon held its own against England in the 1990 World Cup.
South Korea defeated Germany. The United States has lost to Mexico numerous times. This means that the global balance of power and influence is more leveled when there are only 11 players on each side, with defined tactical roles, representing an entire nation.
This possibility has further elevated soccer's importance, linking it to ever more people who see it not just as a sport but as a means of accessing opportunity. A chance.
Yet, against all economic power-driven expectations, the weaker team has a chance of triumphing over the stronger team. “Soccer is 11 against 11” and “the game’s only over when the referee blows the whistle” are phrases that attest to soccer’s unpredictability. Certainty only comes when the match is over and the result is confirmed.
Soccer is like life. As mentioned, both on and off the field. “Ninety million in action,” as the jingle for the 1970 World Cup campaign put it. The 11 on the field represented the Brazilian population during the World Cup campaign in Mexico.
This hasn’t changed. When a team goes out the pitch, millions of fans go with them. It is essential to remember, however, that soccer is a sport and involves rivals. Not enemies. While there is potential for positive representation, there is also room for disputes and violence, which tarnish the sport’s shine.
Peace in stadiums, the harmonious interaction of fans, and the coexistence of rival teams are all part of the hopes we have for soccer and those who play it, on and off the pitch. This is something every sports lover should keep in mind and act upon.
And it could be said this is the goal we are all aiming for. A goal which will celebrated by all fans, together.
World Cups in focus
Previous issues
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.