Estação de Hidroaviões do Aeroporto Santos Dumont: um centro de memória para o Instituto Histórico-Cultural da Aeronáutica (INCAER)

Abstract

The old Estação de Hidroaviões of Santos Dumont Airport is a building that has become an exponent of modern Brazilian architecture and a constitutive element of the historical memory of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, as well as in the history of national aviation. It was built in the 30's, at the edge of Baia de Guanabara which is a postcard of the Rio de Janeiro city. The material used for the grounding of this site was the dismantling of the Morro do Castelo, a city's foundation landmark in 1565. The government held a contest to choose the architectural design of the building that was built on this site; the chosen was the one of the Architect Attilio Correia Lima, forerunner of the modern architecture in Brazil, becoming the first airport to conduct commercial flights in the country. In 1942 the seaplanes fall into disuse and the building falls into ostracism; being claimed by the Ministry of Aeronautics, the building is now used as a club. With the construction of automotive accessibility roads, the urban project of the government of the city of Rio de Janeiro provides the demolition of the building mobilizing architects for its overturning. After its overturning in the 1980s, the Ministry of Aeronautics indicated this building to be the Instituto Histórico-Cultural da Aeronáutica – INCAER head office in order to preserve the history of civil and military aviation and enhance this building. For all this representativeness we intend to propose to INCAER the creation of a memory center which values the historical building and at the same time enables its function for the society.