Palácio Da Alvorada
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The Palácio da Alvorada () is the
official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...
of the president of Brazil. It is located in the national capital of
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, on a
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
at the margins of Paranoá Lake. The building was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built between 1957 and 1958 in the modernist style. It has been the residence of every Brazilian president since
Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...
. The building is listed as a National Historic Heritage Site. The Palácio da Alvorada is used as a residence and for official receptions. The president's workplace and center of the executive branch is the Palácio do Planalto.


Naming conventions

The building was initially referred to as the "Presidential Palace". The name "Palácio da Alvorada" ("Palace of Dawn") comes from a quote by
Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...
: "''Que é Brasília, senão a alvorada de um novo dia para o Brasil?''" ("What is Brasília, if not the dawn of a new day for Brazil?").


History

The Palácio da Alvorada was the first government structure built in the new
federal capital A federal capital is a political entity, often a municipality or capital (political), capital city, that serves as the Seat of government, seat of the federal government. A federal capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices ...
. Construction began on April 3, 1957, and was completed on June 30, 1958. Niemeyer's project was based on the principles of simplicity and
modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...
.


In the 21st century

In 2004, First Lady Marisa Letícia directed the most extensive and historical restoration of the palace in its history. The project took two years to complete at a cost of $18.4 million dollars. Research was conducted to restore the rooms and décor to their original styles. Furniture and decoration objects were also restored. The electric and central air conditioning systems were replaced, and floor and ceiling work was done. Contrary to popular belief, the restoration was not paid by the government, but was part of an ongoing project of restoration of heritage sites under the direction of the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage with funds donated by private corporations (for tax-deduction). In January 2023, it was widely reported that
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
, who lived in the building during his term as 38th President of Brazil, had "wrecked" the palace, leaving torn carpets and sofas, leaking ceilings, and broken windows and floorboards. A tapestry by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti had reportedly been moved from the library and hung into the sun, necessitating restoration work, and some artworks had disappeared entirely. A Brazilian cactus planted by Bolsonaro's predecessor and successor,
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
, had been removed, and a ballpoint pen – which Bolsonaro had used as a symbol of his administration – had been left on the desk.


Architecture

The
building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...
has an area of distributed along three floors: basement, landing and second floor. Located in adjacent buildings within palace grounds are the
chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
and the heliport. The
basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...
level houses the
movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
, game room, kitchen, laundry, medical center, and the building's administration.


Ground floor

The ground floor houses the state rooms used by the
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
for official receptions. It is made up of the Entrance Hall, Waiting Room, State Room, Library, Mezzanine, Dining Room, Noble Room, Music Room and Banquet Room.Palácio do Planalto
Presidency of Brazil. Retrieved on 2013-03-27.
The Entrance Hall is the main entrance area of the palace. Its main feature is a golden wall inscribed with a phrase by president Kubitschek: "From this central plateau, this vast emptiness that will soon become the center of national decisions, I look once more at the future of my country and foresee this dawn with an unshakeable faith in its great destiny - Juscelino Kubitschek, October 2, 1956". The Waiting Room is decorated with a tapestry made by Concessa Colaço entitled ''Manhã de Cores''; two paintings by Vicente do Rego Monteiro – ''Abstração'' and ''Céu''; and a work of art from Carlos Scliar entitled ''Os Barcos Esperam''. The State Room is furnished with a mixture of contemporary and antique items. The main wall is made of ''jacarandá-da-baía''. Two sacred images stand out, Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Teresa of Ávila, both from the 18th century
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
style. Kennedy Bahia’s tapestry, entitled ''Flora e Fauna da Bahia'', stands out on the wall, as well as paintings made by Djanira da Motta e Silva entitled ''Colhendo Café''; by Maria Leontina, entitled ''Cena II''; and by Alfredo Volpi entitled ''Fachada em Oval''. The Library's book collection includes 3406 literary works that range from
arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
,
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
and
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
to general
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and Brazilian history, among others. The library is decorated with a tapestry by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti – ''Músicos'' – and three framed old maps:
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
(1645), Brazil (undated) and
Captaincies of Brazil The Captaincies of Brazil () were captaincies of the Portuguese Empire, administrative divisions and Fief, hereditary fiefs of Portugal in the colony of ''Ilha de Vera Cruz, Terra de Santa Cruz'', later called Colonial Brazil, Brazil, on the Atl ...
(1656). There are also two small oil paintings, ''Moça Sentada ao Piano'' (1857) and ''Senhora Sentada'' (1885), by Rodolfo Amoedo. The Mezzanine is a circulation area between the Entrance Hall, the Library and the Noble Room. It features a tapestry by Di Cavalcanti entitled ''Múmias'', three indigenous funerary urns from Marajó Island, and two sculptures by Alfredo Ceschiatti. The Dining Room was added in 1992, and is decorated with a table and twelve English chairs in Chippendale style and two other Brazilian tables from the 18th century. Seventeenth-century Flemish paintings by Cornelis de Heem and Jan van Huysum stand out in the room. Besides these works of art, the room is also decorated with two Baroque-style angels from the state of
Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...
, and a set of porcelain from the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
dating back to the 18th century. The Noble Room is divided into four sections in which stand out two Victor Brecheret sculptures, entitled ''Morena'' and ''Saindo do Banho''. The contemporary section is decorated with Mies van der Rohe’s furniture. The last two sections display a mixture of antique and contemporary Brazilian and foreign furniture. Two torch holders in golden wood and two sacred pieces are among them – The Holy Family and Sant’Ana Maestra – sitting on an 18th-century table. On the wall, an Aldemir Martins painting entitled ''Vaqueiro'' and two works of art made by Candido Portinari – ''Jangadas do Nordeste'' and ''Os Seringueiros'' stand out. The Music Room is located between the Noble Room and the Banquet Room. It features two upholstered sets of sofas separated by a German parlor
grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
. In the back, on a wood dresser stand the statues of Saint John the Evangelist (17th century), Saint Joachim (18th century). The Banquet Room was designed by Anna Maria Niemeyer, and features a large dining table with fifty seats. In the back of the room there is a 19th-century cedar dresser, next to two chests dated from the beginning of the 20th century. It is decorated by two tapestries entitled ''Saudades do Meu Jardim'', from Concessa Colaço, a sculpture ''Edificação'', by André Bloc, and silverware from the Catete Palace.


Second floor

The second floor is the residential part of the palace, with the presidential apartment consisting of four suites, two guest apartments and other private rooms.


Staff and security

There are 160 employees currently working at the palace, including secretaries, assistants, waiters, cooks, doctors and security personnel. The palace complex is protected by the Presidential Guard Battalion.


See also

* Planalto Palace * Granja do Torto * Rio Negro Palace * Catete Palace * Paço Imperial * Palace of São Cristóvão * Petrópolis Imperial Palace * List of Oscar Niemeyer works


References


Presidency of Brazil: Palácio da Alvorada


External links



* Galler

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacio Da Alvorada Modernist architecture in Brazil Presidential palaces in Brazil Palaces in Brasília Houses completed in 1958 Oscar Niemeyer buildings Tourist attractions in Brasília