Culture

Latin America's first skyscraper to go up for auction

Rio de Janeiro, Oct 6 (EFE), (Camera: Janaína Quinet).- Brazil intends to sell the first skyscraper in Latin America. This architectural icon from the 30s, known as 'A Noite', lived its peak until the middle of the 20th century.INCLUDES FOOTAGE COURTESY OF BRAZIL'S NATIONAL LIBRARY AND NATIONAL RADIO.SOUNDBITES OF ROBERTO CABOT, VISUAL ARTIST AND GREAT-GRANDSON OF FRENCH ARCHITECT JOSEPH GIRE:"During the Vargas' Revolution in the 30s, Getúlio Vargas orders his army to set fire to the newspaper A Noite, which was an opposition newspaper that had great power. It had a radio station. It was very powerful. They had so much power that they could build that tower, similar to the ones which were being built in New York back in those days. All great newspapers built their towers, symbols of the strength and the importance of the press in those days. Getúlio Vargas (and his army) arrived there... I keep a letter that my grandad sent to my great-grandad, who was living in Paris. He describes how they threw the typewriters, the printers through the windows. They took the typewriters, furniture and threw everything from the window and then the building was set on fire. But the fire did not affect because it was made out of concrete. If it had been a steel structure, it would have been demolished. However, because it was made out of reinforced concrete, nothing happened."