MARACANÃ STADIUM - SOCIOCULTURAL MONUMENTALITY

MARACANÃ STADIUM

SOCIOCULTURAL MONUMENTALITY

Fernando Marsan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 03 Preface Page 04 Outline Page 07 Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality Introduction Page 08 Latin America, Brazil and Nationalities Page 10 Urban Planning and Architecture in Brazil Page 11 The Monumental Role of the Maracanã Stadium Page 13 Image Citations Page 15 Annotated Bibliography

PREFACE

After its completion in 1950 for the fourth FIFA World Cup, the Maracanã Stadium became one of the most significant urban artifacts in Rio de Janeiro. Such was the case that it became a propelling monument that served to drive the sociocultural situation in Brazil. Its monumentality bridged a connection between the past, the present and the future of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.

“Monuments are human landmarks which men have created as symbols for their ideals, for their aims and for their actions. They are intended to outlive the period which originated them, and constitute a heritage for future generations. As such, they form a link between the past and the future.” Point One - Nine Points on Monumentality : SERT Arquitecto en Nueva York : Josep Lluís Sert

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OUTLINE

I. Introduction A. Synopsis Architecture and urban planning have grown immensely and are now working more closely through time. Their relationship has become one of symbiosis, where ones improvement correlates directly to the advancement of the other. The alliance formed between these two fields of study has led to the creation of built elements, known as urban artifacts, which have a substantial role in a city’s development and dynamics. In some cases these artifacts are more easily recognizable than in others considering that some cities have a stronger cultural, political and religious identity than others. Brazil is a perfect example of a place where these qualities are very rich and where certain architectural elements are literal expressions of their ideals, objectives and actions. B.

Thesis Statement

After its completion in 1950 for the fourth FIFA World Cup, the Maracanã Stadium became one of the most significant urban artifacts in Rio de Janeiro. Such was the case that it became a propelling monument that served to drive the sociocultural situation in Brazil. Its monumentality bridged a connection between the past, the present and the future of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. II. Body A.

Historical Context i.

Latin American Architecture and the implications of Nationality

ii.

Brazil, a country with many countries.

iii.

Joga Bonito Brazil

Prior to any exploration one must understand the context of the task at hand. The first section of the research will address this concept in order to establish a baseline from which to move forward. The investigation will begin with a study into Latin American architecture and the idea Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 04

that Nationalities are not determinant in the design process or intent. With this in mind, Brazil will become the focal point and its multiple, distinct areas will come to light in an attempt to describe what are the architectural implications of a country that can house such great variety of cultures. This will serve as a transition to an exploration of how football can be the uniting factor for a country like Brazil. B.

The sociocultural impact of Urban Planning and Architecture i.

Urban Planning, Architecture and the creation of the urban artifact

ii.

Politics and Economics in Brazil

iii.

Sociocultural situation of Brazil

The second part of the research will deal with the relationship that exists between Architecture and Urban Planning. This discussion will present examples of projects where these two fields of study have worked together to create viable solutions to problems that exist in complex urban conditions, one of which is the Cidade dos Motores in Brazil. In order to completely comprehend the complexity of these urban conditions one must comprehend the role of politics and economics in the relationship between Architecture and Urban Planning in Brazil. This influence leads directly to the impact that any decision might have on the sociocultural situation of Brazil and consequentially the resistance that might arise from the people. C.

The Maracanã Stadium and its role as a monument i.

The Maracanã Stadium and its history

ii.

First point of Monumentality and the Maracanã

iii.

The Maracanã, a bridge from the past to the future

After analyzing the historical context and comprehending the impact that Urban Planning and Architecture can have on a city, the research will shift its attention to the Maracanã Stadium. Initially, it will present its technical specifications and most of all, the historical relevance of the stadium in Rio de Janeiro. From this, the First Point of Monumentality by Josep Lluís Sert will be introduced and how the Maracanã Stadium has become a monument in a Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Latin America. Finally, the investigation will present the Maracanã as this propelling urban artifact that serves as a bridge from the past to the present and furthermore a passage to the future. III. Conclusion A.

Thesis Statement

After its completion in 1950 for the fourth FIFA World Cup, the Maracanã Stadium became one of the most significant urban artifacts in Rio de Janeiro. Such was the case that it became a propelling monument that served to drive the sociocultural situation in Brazil. Its monumentality Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 05

bridged a connection between the past, the present and the future of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. B.

Critical Analysis and Closing Statement

Considering the context in which it lies, the political and economical conditions that a country like Brazil has and the sociocultural influence of this country it is clear that this stadium is a propelling urban artifact. The urban implications behind the Maracanã Stadium allow for it to serve the First Point on Monumentality by Josep Luis Sert which states that “monuments are human landmarks which men have created as symbols for their ideals, for their aims and for their actions. They are intended to outlive the period which originated them, and constitute a heritage for future generations. As such, they form a link between the past and the future.” The Maracanã Stadium does this precisely, it is not only a stadium but also an icon of the Brazilian culture, a symbol of unity in despair and a vessel for the history of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.

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MARACANÃ STADIUM: SOCIOCULTURAL MONUMENTALITY

Figure 17 Maracanã Stadium Lights from Field View

Figure 02

INTRODUCTION Architecture and urban planning have grown immensely and are now working more closely through time. Their relationship has become one of symbiosis, where ones improvement correlates directly to the advancement of the other. The alliance formed between these two fields of study has led to the creation of built elements, known as urban artifacts, which have a substantial role in a city’s development and dynamics. In some cases these artifacts are more easily recognizable considering that some cities have a stronger cultural, political and religious identity than other cities. The city in this context is referred to as a singular multi-faceted entity which can be shaped by its respective propelling elements. When discussing urbanism and its various components, a clear distinction must be made between urban artifacts, primary elements and monuments. An urban artifact is, once again, a built object that serves an important role within the mesh of the city, one that contributes to the individual needs of the society, the place and the memory of the city. An urban artifact’s role is not only to create a permanence within the city but also to serve the functions that the city requires from the structure. Primary elements also play a predominant role in the locus of a city. This second group consists of all the built artifacts of a city that have three essential qualities: circulation, fixed activity and housing. A primary element must contain these three categories in order to accelerate the process of urbanization and spatial transformation. The third category within the genome of a city are the monuments. The common conception of monuments is that they are grand architectural gestures that were created to serve as a symbolic representation of

1. Rossi, Aldo. Architecture of the City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984.

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a memorable event, person or set of ideals. This is true in the colloquial sense of the word, but in architecture a monument is much more than this. A monument in architecture is an urban artifact that must be or become a propelling object in a political, economical and sociocultural sense. Alongside with this idea, a monument must comply with the theory of permanences which states that the building typology must persist through time.1 It is important to recognize that an urban artifact can be a primary element if it contains all three specific qualities - circulation, fixed activity and housing - and that a monument is always a primary element, but a primary element isn’t always a monument. In order for a primary element to be a monument, it must be immutable to time and a recurring built typology. LATIN AMERICA, BRAZIL AND NATIONALITIES America can be considered one of the most diverse continents in the world especially when you begin to dive into the Latin American society. Although parallels may be drawn between their history and their current conditions, each one of the twenty countries that conform Latin America have created their own character and interpretation of their past. The idea of nationality in these countries is of utmost importance to the people, it serves as way to unify what might otherwise seem as compilation of smaller worlds within one space. The more relevant concept is that in architecture, the role of nationality is seen diminished considerably. This is due to the fact that architecture has developed a universal language derived from the similarities in regards to the problems that these countries have faced and are currently

2. Bullrich, Francisco. New Directions in Latin American Architecture. New York, NY: George Braziller.1969

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confronting.2 With this in mind the focus will now turn to Brazil, a country that due to its size, sociocultural variety, and urban diversity, serves best to frame the exploration. Brazil is the biggest country in Latin America with an approximate land area of 8.5 million squared kilometers and a population of over 200 million people. Once could then make the statement that Brazil is a country composed of many smaller countries, in the sense that its composition allows for a wide array of subcultures to exist making it an extremely rich architectural and urban precedent. Brazil’s current capital is Brasilia which is located in the Central-West side of the country. Since its establishment in the 1960s Brasilia has become a hub for architectural exploration with architects like Oscar Niemeyer and more recently Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The city’s plan and design was made primarily by Niemeyer with the premise in mind that the city should be composed of a modernist grid that allowed for a consistent and organized arrangement. The arrangement was orchestrated through a series blocks which Niemeyer called superquadras. Each superquadra would fit directly into the spaces created by the grid and they would contain many of the essential elements required for the inhabitants to subsist3. Prior to the 1960’s Brazil’s capital was located in the Southwest coast in a city called Rio de Janeiro. This city was established in 1565 by the Portuguese and from that moment until the 1960’s it remained as the most iconic city of Brazil. Rio de Janeiro has a population of around 6.3 million people which makes it the sixth larges city in the Americas4 and it has been recognized by UNESCO within the Cultural Landscape section. Rio de Janeiro is recognized for its beautiful carnivals, bossa nova, the Ipanema and Copacabana barrios and like all of Brazil, for its joga bonito. Joga Bonito or “the beautiful game” is a term that was coined by one of the greatest football players in history, Edson Arantes do Nascimiento aka “Pele”. The concept of joga bonito got power especially after the creation of the FIFA World Cup, a tournament in which every country on the world has the opportunity to play if they qualify. Football is by far the biggest sport in Brazil which have made it equally as important as politics, economy and even religion. This sport in itself could be considered a monument in a very abstract sense since it truly serves to propel the country in more facets that one might imagine. The beautiful game is one of the clearest instances where an architectural monument is utilized for the sole purpose of the exhibition of the team’s nationalities.

3. UNESCO. World Heritage: Brasilia. Accessed May 2, 2014. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/445 4. Rio Olympic and Paralympic Committee 2016. Rio and its History. Accessed May 6, 2014. http://www.rio2016.com/en/rio-de-janeiro/rioand-its-history

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URBAN PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE IN BRAZIL It has become evident that one very essential variable in the success and permanence of a city is the way that it has been planned. For example Paris, where the city is arranged by connecting the main streets to important nodes which often times are related to monuments or parks, has proven that an intelligent organization of a the city’s plan allows for the society to thrive and persist. Other instances like Venice, shows that the lack of arrangement triggers the creation conflicts such as overcrowding, violence and even conflicts with wastewater polluting the city’s environment. Many of the Latin American cities have been arranged quite poorly in one way due to the fact that the colonizers took over the land and constructed without a regard for future expansion nor organization. In other cases, the lack of organization is due to the economic disparity that exists within the society. Urban planning, architecture and landscape architecture are the three main disciplines that contribute to the urban design of a city. The relationship between these three achieved concretion after the fifth CIAM conferences in Paris. One of the main players of this conference was Josep Lluís Sert, a Catalan architect deeply concerned with the urban problems that existed in Europe after WWI and WWII. After Sert moved to America due to the Fascist dictatorship, he resumed his exploration into urban planning and the relationship that existed between this discipline and architecture5. Brazil became one of his main interests due to variety of sociocultural and spatial conditions that this country presented. Rio de Janeiro was the location selected for the first urban planning project in South America proposed

5. Sert, Josep Lluís. SERT: Arquitecto en Nueva York. Barcelona, Spain: Actar, 1997.

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by Sert. This project was called Cidade dos Motores and it comprised approximately 250 acres in the outskirts of 1940’s Rio de Janeiro. The premise of this project was to create a city that would introduce the principles of traffic segregation, contrast of heights and distances, and to create a variety of typologies that would allow for the city to be completely self-subsisting6. Aside from the introduction of these three principles, the city plan design was to propel the sociocultural, political and economical situation of a city with a strong development potential through the introduction of primary elements and monuments, such as a stadium and city parks. In urban planning a very crucial consideration is to create a logical system that allows for a harmony to exist between the primary elements, urban artifacts and monuments. THE MONUMENTAL ROLE OF THE MARACANÃ STADIUM The exploration done by Sert in Rio de Janeiro was not in vane since it served as a catalyst to further introduce similar ideas in this city as well as a precedent for what would be the design of Brasilia in 1960. Rio de Janeiro presents various instances that start to show the implementation of the similar concepts. For example the disparity that exists between the rich and the poor side of Rio shows how the lack of organization in a city is a detriment for the areas to progress and overcome their current situation. On the other hand, the rich side of Rio de Janeiro demonstrates how if a very minimal amount of organization and logic is introduced the city can begin to flourish and advance. Within this city there is one urban artifact that is essential the epitome of a propelling monument and that is the Maracanã Stadium.

6. MoMA. Two new cities rise from the swamp and slum. Accessed May 7, 2014. http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/1104/releases/ MOMA_1946-1947_0087_1947-06-23_47623-25.pdf?2010

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The Maracanã Stadium was designed for the fourth FIFA World Cup in 1950 when Rio de Janeiro was still the capital of Brazil. After its completion it held the title of the biggest football stadium in the world with a capacity of over 200,000 spectators. The Maracanã - or Estádio Jornalista Mário Filio - was intended to house the Brazilian National Team as well as the two league teams that make up Rio, the Fluminense and the Flamengos. The stadium was designed by the Brazilian architects Raphael Galvão, Oscar Valdetaro, Pedro Paulo B. Bastos, Orlando Azevedo and Antonio Dias Carneiro7. Many of the greatest players in history played in this field, amongst them are Pele, Obdulio Varela, Garrincha and Zico. The Maracaña Stadium also housed the final of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in which Brazil lost against Uruguay. The consummation of these events alongside with the prevalence that football has in the Brazilian culture are what made the Maracanã a monument for Rio de Janeiro. According to Sert’s first point on monumentality, “Monuments are human landmarks which men have created as symbols for their ideals, for their aims, and for their actions. They are intended to outlive the period which originated them, and constitute a heritage for future generations. As such they form a link between the past and the future”8. With this in mind, one can draw the parallels between this statement and the history of the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Through time the Maracanã has remained unmoved and its presence continues to resonate throughout not only Brazil but also the world. It represents the ideals of a city that is in constant will to prosper and succeed, it represents the aim that this city and the people have to outlive the current times they faced, and most of all it represents the actions of a country that has overcome the adversities in its path and that is now a dominant society in this hemisphere of the world. The Maracanã Stadium has now been renovated to once again return to its place of dominance and be the main hub for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Its permanence is set to continue after this event with another grand event, the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Maracanã Stadium has served to bridge the history of not only Rio de Janeiro but also of Brazil to the current situation of proliferation and empowerment of this country. Taking into consideration the context in which this stadium was built and the context in which it lies now, the political and economical conditions that Brazil has and the sociocultural influence of this stadium in the country, it is the propelling monumentality of the Maracanã Stadium is evident. The Maracanã Stadium is an icon of the Brazilian culture, a symbol of unity in despair and a vessel for the history of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. 7. FIFA. Classic Football: Maracanã Stadium - Estádio Jornalista Mário Filio. Accessed May 7, 2014. http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/ stadiums/stadium=214/ 8. Sert, Josep Lluís. SERT: Arquitecto en Nueva York. Barcelona, Spain: Actar, 1997.

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IMAGE CITATIONS

Figure 01 Maracanã Panoramic Seats http://blog.pennlive.com/pennlive-soccer-fc/2013/06/the_2013_confederations_cup_ta.html Figure 02 Maracanã Lights Field View http://www.vitoamalfitano.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/maracana2.jpg Figure 03 Brazilian National Congress http://www.cntraveler.com/arts/2012/12/oscar-niemeyer-architecture-design-photos-120612 Figure 04 Brazilian Fans http://www.todayonline.com/sports/football/no-more-samba-maracana Figure 05 Cidade dos Motores http://www.vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/arquitextos/11.124/3575 Figure 06 Rio de Janeiro 2014 http://wallpaperlikes.com/statue-jesus-rio-de-janeiro-free-desktop-city-wallpaper-1920x1080.html#. U1A8dl7sfRo Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 13

Figure 07 Maracanã Air View http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2013/06/04/the-new-soulless-maracana/ Figure 08 Goal 1950 Brazil v. Uruguay http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/feb/18/world-cup-25-stunning-moments-no2uruguay-brazil-1950-scott-murray Figure 09 Edson Arantes do Nascimiento “Pele” http://museuvirtualdofutebol.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html Figure 10 Maracanã 1950 Postcard http://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-536127888-rio-14707-postal-estadio-maracana-rio-de-janeirorj-_JM

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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Banham, Reyner. The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic. Stuttgart, Germany: Karl Krämer Verlag Stuttgart, 1966. The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic deals with an investigation into the realm of new brutalism in architecture. The book begins by introducing the origins of this typology, moving forward then into the polemic caused by Brutalism. Consequentially, there was a great impact on the public and the professionals in regards to this typology and its urban implications. It transgresses then into how these buildings, despite their hardships, prevailed as a typology and how a new movement originated from this situation. The movement known as “new brutalism” was created in an attempt to redefine what brutalism was and to integrate itself into the architectural field once again. This book is relevant to the exploration of the Maracanã Stadium due to the scale and the monumentality associated with brutalist structures. This reading presents a similar situation in regards to the limitations in construction, the economics behind these projects and furthermore, the cultural and societal response or attitude presented. Along these lines, one can draw parallels between this particular stadium and brutalism as an architectural typology, which allows for an insight into design explorations. Bullrich, Francisco. New Directions in Latin American Architecture. New York, NY: George Braziller, 1969. Prior to any exploration one must understand the context of a site in its totality in order to produce the most responsible design. Bullrich’s book is a perfect starting ground for this project considering that he presents architecture in regards to Latin America by studying architects and their works without allowing for their nationalities to play a determinant role. In other words, the stance taken is more objective which in turn allows for a more complete understanding of Latin America’s architecture. The book then breaks down the content by year and therefor a chronological logic is imbued into the exploration. Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 15

Furthermore, this book will serve as a tool to begin a more complete research. It will present the situation in Latin America as a whole at the same that it uses very specific examples of buildings, architects and typologies. Beginning the research from a wider lens allows for a purer connection to be established when discussing issues of history and the bridge between past, present and future in Rio de Janeiro. Goodwin, Philip L. Brazil Builds: Architecture New and Old 1652-1942. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1943 Building Brasilia is a book composed of various compilations of photographs that have as a central object, Brasilia. The photographs and the text play hand in hand to introduce the architectural world that exists in Brazil considering that is such as massive country with many areas that are very distinct to each other. The book’s text presents Brasilia from the point of view of Gautherot who since an early age had a strong infatuation with Brazil, its culture, its people and its architecture. The book discusses the manner in which Brasilia was designed and constructed from the ground up as well as the political, economical and societal limitations that this city had to deal with in order to get to where they are now. Considering that the Maracanã Stadium is located in one of Brazil’s largest cities, this book is of great importance to the understanding of this stadium. The way Brasilia was designed constructed and established is very similar to that of Rio de Janeiro since both have the highest rank in terms of their importance in this country. They are the drivers for the biggest part of Brazil’s economy and they contain the most amount of limitations not only political but also sociological in regards to change. This book will serve to further highlight the issues undergone by the designers and planners of the Maracanã Stadium and how these were overcome during a time where Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil. Gautherot, Marcel. Building Brasilia. London, UK: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2010. The Museum of Modern Art of New York City published this book as homage to Brazilian architecture and how after much effort this society managed to grow exponentially into what it was at the time and what it would be in the future. The book discusses the driving forces behind this thriving country as well as the obstacles that they had to confront in order to achieve this success. The manner in which it is presented is similar to that of Gautherot’s book in that both present a series of photographs that introduce Brazil’s architecture through time. Alongside with previous references, this book will serve to accentuate the ordeal that a country has to go through in order to achieve success not only socially but also politically, economically and architecturally. This book will be another degree of detail to go into when researching from

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a broader point of view to a more detailed one until finally culminating with a direct exploration into the Maracanã Stadium. Lawrence, A.W. Greek Architecture. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books Ltd, 1957. Greece is an ancient society that has been recognized all around the world to be the founders of many of the sciences, arts and crafts that now prevail. This society began from the grew even though technology was scarce and even inexistent, times when the oppression of certain arts and ideologies was greater than what currently exists, times when things that seemed impossible were achieved nonetheless. This book is an exploration into this ancient civilization that continues to act as a propeller and an active player in our current era. Specifically, this book presents everything that occurred in the architectural field of study in Greece and it explains how these remain relevant to things that are currently designed and constructed. Sometimes it is best to go to the root of the sciences in order to completely understand it. This is not an exception, in actuality it is extremely relevant to understand how a civilization was able to create technologies and be the propellers of such an amazing legacy. It serves as a precedent to what is explored in books such as, Building Brasilia and Brazil Builds. Not only will it allow for a broader understanding of the topic from a historical point of view but it will also present it from a logistic manner where it explores the manner in which these technologies were created and applied. May, Kyle. Van den Hout, Julia. Reidel, Jacob. Franklin, Jeffrey. Lee Coates IV, Archie. Brutalism. New York, NY: Clog, 2013. Brutalism is a compilation of writings and images that were created in an attempt to disseminate Brutalism as a typology in a new and fresh way. Its relevance to this project is similar to that of The New Brutalism where they both help at understanding what large-scale buildings have to deal with when they are placed in different urban contexts. The important aspect to keep clear is that this is not an exploration into Brutalism but rather an exploration into the contemporary role that such monumental urban artifacts have in our society due to the fact that stadia are and remain one of the very few large-scale monuments in architecture and therefor the pros and cons of both typologies might lead to a possible dialect or harmony between them. Mayne, Thom. Rigolot, Stephani. Morphosis on Urban Planning: Combinatory Urbanism. Culver City, CA: Stray Dog Café, 2011. Thom Mayne’s book deals with the dialect that exists between architecture and urban planning. Due to the current situations of globalizations, technological advancement, authorship, etc these disciplines are being pulled away more and more with time, which in turn makes the task harder. Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 17

This book will explore this issue and present possible solutions that might begin to alleviate part of the problems or at least set a basis from which to build on. The relevance of this book to the research on the Maracanã Stadium is that it discusses these urban issues, which in many ways are currently affecting Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and many other important cities around the world. Many of the urban artifacts or monuments – the Maracanã Stadium included – are even being considered to be demolished in the near future. This book explores this concept of temporality in architecture, in the city and in the society and how this is one of the great parasitic ideas that is affecting these disciplines. Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Existencia, Espacio y Arquitectura. Barcelona, Spain: Imprenta Juvenil, 1975. Existence, Space and Architecture is an analysis to a misconception that haunts the architectural field of study. This problem being that there is a detachment that exists between the idea of space and existence in architecture. According to this book, designers constantly forget that when designing space one must not only take into account one very essential aspect of life and that is existence. It is a complicated concept to grasp sometimes because existence seems very immaterial but in reality it is very simple. Existence refers to human life and the fact that without it nothing else would exist. When designing space one must be fully aware of this concept and as Norberg-Schulz says “One must ask himself one question, what must we expect and ask from architectonic space in order to maintain a good quality of life? Norberg-Schulz’s book is of importance since space does not refer to the confines of a room, space is anything and everything that can be activated by human interaction. Therefor, this would include rooms, houses, skyscrapers, opera houses, stadiums, cities, countries and Earth as a whole. By keeping this in mind, an analysis into the Maracanã Stadium’s spatial quality can enter the conversation and play a very significant role in the research. Rossi, Aldo. Architecture of the City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984. Aldo Rossi’s book presents the idea of an urban artifact and their importance to architecture and their role in society. The architecture that exists within a city and what composes this mesh is what interests Rossi and he identifies a variety of elements that serve as propelling forces in a city. The relevance of this book to the research is that it introduces the concept of urban artifact and it defines how these then help a city thrive and overcome the idea of being just temporal. Sert, Josep Lluís. SERT: Arquitecto en Nueva York. Barcelona, Spain: Actar, 1997. The idea of monumentality in architecture was something that many people might have had an intuitive understanding of but Sert, Gideon and Laugier were the ones who established what monumentality really meant and what defines a monument. This book presents this concept and Fernando Marsan : Maracanã Stadium: Sociocultural Monumentality: page 18

continues to describe how the architectural world has arrived to this idea, which were the main players in this project and what were their test subjects. The relevance of Sert’s book is the idea of monumentality and what each point of monumentality means to the Maracanã Stadium. It is also very significant in that one of the main sections of the book explores how the concept of urban design and monumentality was introduced and tested in Latin American cities, especially in Brazil with the Cidade dos Motores. These were all occurring in the years that directly preceded the creation of this stadium and therefor they played a role in the understanding of what this stadium would mean to Rio de Janeiro.

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