Monday, August 31, 2009

An interesting story

This building was designed by portuguese architects but the construction took place in Brazil for the Rio de Janeiro Great International Exhibition in 1923. Then it was dismantled, brought to Lisbon for the Portuguese Great Industrial Exhibition (1932) and called 'Palace of Exhibitions'. In 1946 it was adapted to sport events, in order to house the Hockey International Championship (1947) and called 'Palace of Sports'. Finally, in 1984 its name has changed to Carlos Lopes Pavilion as a tribute to the portuguese Olympic athlete (Marathon Gold Medal, Los Angeles).
The building is now abandoned and seems to have started falling apart but, hopefully, it will become Sports National Museum and shall open doors in 2011.

26 comments:

Leif Hagen said...

It's an absolute gem of a building with an amazing history! They better do something quick! Beautiful detail photos!

Jim Klenke said...

It looks like a beautiful building, hopefully it will be saved.

Anya said...

Interesting story about this fantastic building :)
Its really a great history !!

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm glad there are plans for this old building. I hate to see it fall into ruin.

Lowell said...

Fascinating story, JM! Can't imagine dismantling something like this and hauling over the ocean.

Quite ornate and vry beautiful, it is a shame to let it fall apart I'm glad it will be put to good use again soon.

Lovely photos, as usual!

brattcat said...

It would be a tragedy to let this building with its fascinating history go to ruin. I love all of these images but particularly the first one with the series of glass panes on the balcony revealing an open glass-panel door.

Tess Kincaid said...

It's so beautiful, I hope they do save it.

Olivier said...

la mosaïque sur la deuxième photo est très belle, j'aime ce bleue.

VP said...

Great building with a fascinating story. I am glad they found an use for it and that they are going to restore it.

Sharon said...

Wow, this building is stunning! It always amazes me to hear that buildings were built in one place and transported thousands of miles away to be reconstructed there. I hope it is saved soon.

Sujata said...

Beautiful old buliding!

Lois said...

With such a long and interesting history, I hope it will be saved! It is a beautiful building.

Judy said...

What a treasure! Glad to hear there is restoration in the works.

Anonymous said...

That's a shame it's abandoned after spending all that money to construct, disassemble, then reconstruct. WoW!

Babzy.B said...

Beautiful building perfect for a museum !

cieldequimper said...

Sometimes I wonder why we let beauties crumble. This is so gorgeous and I love the way the light plays with the window panes in the first shot.

glduro_marieloupe said...

Perhaps, the Portuguese Government could send it back to Brazil!!! :O)

Cezar and Léia said...

What a gem! Didn't know that the building was transferred from a continent to the other, that's quite impressive! I really hope that it will flourish again instead of falling apart! Great post!
God bless you!
Cezar

stromsjo said...

Reminds me of all our old churches. So much art and history to preserve and not enough people and money to get it done.

A bit tragic, really. First they go through all the trouble of transporting it across the ocean and then - now - we're unable to simply maintain it in good shape.

joo said...

It's a great building and would be really awful if it stayed abandoned!

Anonymous said...

At least there are efforts to keep it :)

Oh, and Inca Kola. Even though I haven't been to Peru yet, I try to buy it whenever I can or order it when going to Peruvian restaurants because it is delicious.

Buenos Aires Photoblog said...

An interesting story of an even more interesting building! Sorry to hear that it is a ghost building. Hope any further decay will be stopped soon.

Joan Elizabeth said...

This is a really young building for your part of the world but seems to have more history than the older ones.

Dina said...

Oh no. It HAS to be saved!

tapirgal said...

That building is way too good to lose! I do hope it is recycled as something! If it becomes a sports museum, it will probably have a long life.

AB said...

It would be a crime if this building was not renovated.