Imagine one day the city of Venice closing its channels, just to increase the area available for new ventures. Or Paris, the city of light, allowing private initiative to build skyscrapers next to the Eiffel Tower, taking the view of the monument on the banks of the Seine.
Have you imagined?! So what about the Federal District government's project to revise the process of declaring Brasilia a listed building, allowing the division of land of an entire block of the Pilot Plan (901 North) to build a large hotel, above the official model? Because the country's capital, landmark of modern Brazilian architecture, which holds the title of World Cultural Heritage Site by Unesco, is at this risk.
In defense of the patrimony of Brasilia, entities, teachers and architects Brasilia teamed up to create the “Town Planners in Brasilia Movement” which wrote a manifesto in September against the division of the 901 North block. The document brought together signatures from 180 professionals and should be extended to the people and organizations from all over Brazil, says the architect Paulo Henrique Paranhos, president of the Brazil Institute of Architects/ DF.
The 2014 World Cup and "the need to raise money to fund the Mané Garrincha National Stadium," was the argument used by the former governor of DF, Joaquim Roriz (involved in the “Pandora's box” scandal and not re-elected), as a justification for this proposal for revision of the rules governing land division and use in the Pilot Plan.
Terracap, government real estate company, developed a study justifying this exceptional measure. If the project goes ahead, warns the architect Paulo Paranhos, president of the IAB-DF, "the urban plan designed by Lúcio Costa, recognized worldwide, will be disfigured. And for what? To meet the construction market speculative pressure," he accuses, explaining that it is "a major occupation of a single batch by a single large investor!”.
First, the architect remembers, the government used a pro-World Cup speech, repeatedly broadcasted in newspapers and government advertisements. "Then since the reception was not as positive as expected, they began to justify the measure because of the lack of hotel beds in town for the event. But the speech did not notch up as well," he says.
Lucidity in urban planning
"What the city needs is lucidity in the urban planning. It is necessary to prevent the forces of capital, construction, to uncontrollably advance, without concern for sustainable growth," argues the architect. For him, the World Cup could have been seen as a time to increase social, urban mobility projects, but it is not what happened. As for Mané Garrincha, he sees the risk of the stadium becoming a white elephant, and not a space that, after the event, could serve the community and be a space for the population.
According to Paranhos, there are DF areas outside the axis listed available for the construction of hotels. Moreover, he adds, it would be more a management issue, so all it takes is to correct the course of business. Actually, what is behind this measure is the value of land in the listed area, that "greatly increased, attracting the interest of the market" he says. So the government, through Terracap, chose to give in to speculative pressure, Paranhos said on behalf of his colleagues.
Public hearing
On October 21 the group will attend the public hearing to discuss Terracap’s study. "What we want is to give more visibility to what they call a study, but that goes for approval as a bill. Given the seriousness of the situation, we want the debate to be open to Brazilian society. The public needs to know this attempt of aggression to the heritage," said the chairman of IAB-DF.
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04/05 | News
