Paulista Avenue (Avenida Paulista in Portuguese, Paulista being the demonym for those born in the state of São Paulo) is one of the most important avenues in São Paulo, Brazil. It stretches and runs northwest to southeast. Its northwest point is Praça Marechal Cordeiro de Farias (pt) at its intersection with Rua da Consolação (pt) and its southeast point is Praça Oswaldo Cruz (pt) at its intersection with Treze de Maio, Bernardino de Campos, Desembargador Eliseu Guilherme, and Dr. Rafael de Barros avenues. Major crossroads on the street are Rua Augusta, Rua Haddock Lobo (pt) and Avenida Brigadeiro Luis Antonio (pt). Parallel to it are Cincinato Braga, Joaquim Eugenio de Lima on the Bela Vista/Paraíso side and Alameda Santos and Coronel Oscar Freire on the Jardins side. Paulista Avenue crosses sections of the neighborhoods of Paraíso, Bela Vista (pt), Jardim Paulista, Cerqueira César (pt) and Jardim América (pt), ending in Higienópolis. The headquarters of many financial and cultural institutions are located on Paulista Avenue. As a symbol of the center of economic and political power of São Paulo, it has been the focal point of numerous political protests beginning in 1929 and continuing into the 21st century. It is also home to an extensive shopping area and to South America's most comprehensive fine-art museum, the São Paulo Museum of Art. Being one of the highest points in São Paulo, it is clustered with radio and television masts, most notably that of TV Gazeta. Paulista Avenue is a major hub of the subway and bus lines of the city. Overview Construction Paulista Avenue was constructed in 1891 by Joaquim Eugênio de Lima (1845-1902), a Uruguayan-Brazilian civil engineer. Once a residential neighbourhood thoroughfare flanked by lavishly ornate mansions with Arabesque and European themes of the city's coffee barons and industry entrepreneurs such as the Matarazzo family. Paulista Avenue Number One belonged to the Von Bülow family, founders and operators of the Antarctica brewery. It became the first paved street in São Paulo in 1909. Asphalt was imported from Germany to complete the project. A master plan for the avenue titled Plano de Avenida (English: Avenue Plan) was devised by Mayor Francisco Prestes Maia in 1930 during the regime of President Getúlio Vargas. It was based on David Burnham's master plan for Chicago, and attempted to control urban growth of São Paulo. The plan promoted the decentralization of urban areas, development of automobile