Trampled by progress
The Monument to Ramos de Azevedo, also known as the Monument to Progress, is a work by the Italian Galileo Emendabili. It was inaugurated on January 25, 1934, São Paulo’s anniversary, as one of the tributes to the architect-engineer Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo, who died in 1928.
The work, which was paid for through donations, was dedicated to the honoree, but his figure, the monument itself and the inauguration date evoke a more elaborate narrative. The sculptural set by Emendabili, standing 25 meters high, depicts from top to bottom the image that São Paulo wanted to consolidate for itself – of a central and modern national metropolis, linked to the economic growth of the emerging bourgeoisie of the time. As Gutiérrez (2009, p. 31) puts it: ‘Its particular identity would be rooted in the mythical figure of the Bandeirante, and Ramos would be its current representation.’
Ramos and his architecture firm was extremely important in the transformation of São Paulo at the turn of the 20th century. At that time, the city was trying to align itself more and more with European culture and art, seen as modern, and nothing better than marking this notion of progress with an enormous monument.
The chosen location was Avenida Tiradentes, in front of the entrance to the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios (current Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo), a building built by the honoree and of which he was vice-president in 1895. In addition, the monument ‘was turned towards the city’s margins, as if pulling it into the future, with its horse of ‘Progress’ (GUTIÉRREZ, 2009).
Ironically, however, it was the evolution of the so-called progress evoked by the Monument that caused it to become disliked. In the 1960s, the work came to be seen as a nuisance, a problem for traffic coming from Zona Norte towards Downtown. Added to this was the start of construction of the north-south axis of the subway, line 1, which would pass through the site.
And so, a series of discussions began which eventually reached the City Council. Several suggestions emerged, such as: splitting up the monument, keeping the figure of Ramos on Avenida Tiradentes and spreading the rest throughout public gardens around the city; relocate it to Jardim da Luz; to Praça Coronel Fernando Preste, where the Ramos de Azevedo Building is located; or place it in one of the wings at Parque Dom Pedro II.
But the process of both dismantling and reassembling this huge sculptural set was quite complex. Especially when it came to removing the horse placed at its highest point. This complexity also came at a high cost, so the Council voted to dismantle it, even without a scheduled reassembly. With this, the process began and in 1968 the monument was completely removed from Avenida Tiradentes. It was temporarily placed in Jardim da Luz, while the place where it would go was defined, as well as what amount could be spent on it. The problem is that the monument was abandoned during this waiting period, until 1974, and had smaller pieces stolen and attempts to saw off others.
Finally, it was decided that it would be placed on the USP campus, close to the Polytechnic School, a place that strongly relates to the honoree’s history, in an attempt to recover the symbolic meaning of the work. But in 1975 it was reinaugurated without much success in this regard.
In 1988, Jânio Quadros even asked the then dean of USP, José Goldemberg, to return the monument for it to be installed in Praça Campo de Bagatelle, in order to recover its imposing, narrative character. However, despite the agreement of those involved, the request did not go through.
The Monument to Ramos de Azevedo, who so dearly wanted to paint this image of progress, no longer fit the new molds of the future for the city of São Paulo, it ended up being ‘run over’ by the very progress it preached and was exiled to the university campus.
- Carlos Eduardo Entini. E no meio do caminho tinha um monumento. Acervo Estadão, São Paulo, 2015.
- Néstor Gutiérrez. Monumento deslocado. Tese de mestrado. Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Comunicações e Artes. 2009.
- Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. Monumento a Ramos de Azevedo: do concurso ao exílio. Jornal das Exposições, São Paulo, 1997.
- Netland. O pesado passeio de Ramos de Azevedo. São Paulo, 2012.
Mnara wa kumbukumbu kwa Ramos de Azevedo, pia inajulikana kama Mnara wa kumbukumbu ya Maendeleo, ni kazi ya Italia Galileo Emendabili. Jumba hilo lilizinduliwa Januari 25, 1934, siku ya kuzaliwa kwa Paulo, kama moja ya heshima kwa msanifu-mhandisi Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo, ambaye alikufa mwaka 1928. Kazi hiyo, ambayo ililipwa kupitia michango, ilitolewa kwa mheshimiwa, lakini takwimu yake, mnara wa ukumbusho yenyewe na tarehe ya ufunguzi huamsha hadithi ya kina zaidi. Seti ya sanamu ya Emendabili, iliyoinuka mita 25 juu, inaonyesha kutoka juu hadi chini picha ambayo São Paulo ilitaka kuimarisha kwa ajili yake mwenyewe - ya mji mkuu wa kitaifa wa kati na wa kisasa, uliounganishwa na ukuaji wa kiuchumi wa bourgeoisie inayoibuka ya wakati huo. "Kama Gutierrez alivyosema, ""kitambulisho chake cha kipekee kitakuwa na mizizi katika takwimu ya hadithi ya Bandeirante, na Ramos atakuwa uwakilishi wake wa sasa."" - Ramos na kampuni yake ya usanifu ilikuwa muhimu sana katika mabadiliko ya São Paulo mwishoni mwa karne ya 20." Wakati huo, mji huo ulikuwa ukijaribu kujipatanisha zaidi na utamaduni na sanaa ya Ulaya, inayoonekana kuwa ya kisasa, na hakuna kitu bora kuliko kuashiria wazo hili la maendeleo na mnara mkubwa. Ukumbi huo ulichaguliwa katika Avenida Tiradentes, mbele ya mlango wa Liceu de Artes e Ofícios (Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo), jengo lililojengwa na heshima na ambalo alikuwa makamu wa rais mnamo 1895. Kwa kuongezea, mnara huo uligeuzwa kuelekea pembe za jiji, kana kwamba ukiuvuta katika siku zijazo, na farasi wake wa "Maendeleo" (GUTIÉRREZ, 2009). Hata hivyo, kwa kushangaza, maendeleo yaliyofanywa na Mnara huo wa Ukumbusho ndiyo yaliyomfanya asipendwe. Katika miaka ya 1960, kazi hiyo ilikuja kuonekana kama usumbufu, tatizo kwa trafiki inayokuja kutoka Zona Norte kuelekea Downtown. Kwa kuongezea, ujenzi wa mstari wa kwanza wa reli ya chini ya ardhi, uliokuwa ukisafiri kutoka kaskazini hadi kusini, ulianza. Na hivyo, mfululizo wa majadiliano ulianza ambayo hatimaye ilifikia Halmashauri ya Jiji. "Mapendekezo kadhaa yalijitokeza, kama vile: kugawanya mnara huo, kuweka sanamu ya Ramos kwenye Avenida Tiradentes na kueneza sehemu iliyobaki katika bustani za umma kote jijini; kuihamisha kwenye Jardim da Luz; kwenye Praça Coronel Fernando Preste, ambapo Jengo la Ramos de Azevedo liko; au kuiweka katika moja ya mabawa ya Parque Dom Pedro II.""" Lakini utaratibu wa kuondoa na kuunganisha tena sanamu hiyo kubwa ulikuwa mgumu sana. Hasa ilipokuja suala la kuondoa farasi aliyewekwa katika sehemu yake ya juu zaidi. Utaratibu huo mgumu ulileta gharama kubwa, kwa hiyo Baraza lilipiga kura kuufanya uharibike, hata bila kurekebishwa tena. Mnamo mwaka wa 1968, wakati wa kuanzishwa kwa ukumbusho huo, ukumbusho huo uliondolewa kabisa kutoka Avenida Tiradentes. Ilikuwa imewekwa kwa muda katika Jardim da Luz, wakati mahali ambapo ingeenda ilifafanuliwa, pamoja na kiasi gani kingeweza kutumiwa juu yake. "Tatizo ni kwamba mnara huo uliachwa wakati huo wa kusubiri, hadi mwaka wa 1974, na vipande vidogo vilivuliwa na majaribio ya kuondoa vingine.""" Hatimaye, iliamuliwa kwamba itawekwa katika chuo cha USP, karibu na Shule ya Polytechnic, mahali ambapo inahusiana sana na historia ya heshima, katika jaribio la kupata maana ya mfano wa kazi. Lakini mwaka 1975 ilifunguliwa tena bila mafanikio mengi katika jambo hili. Mwaka 1988, Jano Quadros alimwomba mkuu wa USP, José Goldberg, kurudisha mnara huo ili uingizwe katika uwanja wa Campo de Bagatelle, ili kuokoa tabia yake ya hadithi. Hata hivyo, licha ya makubaliano ya wale waliohusika, ombi hilo halikufanywa. Mnara wa kumbukumbu kwa Ramos de Azevedo, ambaye alitaka sana kuchora picha hii ya maendeleo, haukufaa tena kwa matumbo mapya ya siku zijazo kwa jiji la São Paulo, ilimaliza kuwa <unk> overrun <unk> na maendeleo yenyewe ilihubiriwa na kufukuzwa kwenye chuo kikuu. - Carlos Eduardo Entini. E no meio do caminho tinha um monumento. Acervo Estadão, São Paulo, 2015. - Néstor Gutiérrez. Monumento deslocado. (Kumbukumbu la kuhamishwa) Tese de mestrado. (Mwanamke mwenye umri wa miaka kumi na miwili) Chuo Kikuu cha São Paulo. Shule ya Mawasiliano na Sanaa. Mwaka 2009 - Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. Monumento a Ramos de Azevedo: fanya mashindano ya uhamisho. Gazeti la Exposições, São Paulo, 1997. - Nchi ya Net. O pesado passeio de Ramos de Azevedo. São Paulo, 2012