Rio de Janeiro y la Exposición del Centenario de la Independencia en 1922

Abstract

Following the path traced by other Latin American nations at the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil celebrated the centenary of its independence with a major international exhibition in Rio de Janeiro in 1922. The exhibition worked as a transmutation of the colonial past into one modernized identity, consolidating the neocolonial as an amalgam of nationalism and cosmopolitanism. The architectural paradox present at the Exposition was: while the Brazilian neocolonial architecture prevailed among the pavilions, original colonial monuments on the “Morro do Castelo” (such as the college and the Jesuit church) were demolished in front of the visitors. The representation of invited nations expressed national historicisms and contributed to the deepening of the theoretical discussion of Brazilian nationality. In fact, the decade of 1920 will be marked by the fermentation of the ideals of nationality and a “Brazilian art”, a field in which architecture will be the protagonist. As examples, we can recognize the project of the National Historical Museum, the creation of the first associations of architects in Brazil and the government pact with representatives of the neocolonial, called to contribute with the construction of the first republican schools and the Brazilian pavilions in other exhibitions.