Luz Station
Encyclopedia
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The station is part of the metropolitan rail system ran by the CPTM
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos
Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos is a commuter rail company owned by the São Paulo State Secretariat for Metropolitan Transports. It was created in 1992 from several railroads that already existed in Greater São Paulo, Brazil....
. The station is mostly notable for housing the Museum of the Portuguese Language
Museum of the Portuguese Language
The Museum of the Portuguese Language is an interactive Portuguese language — and Linguistics/Language Development in general — museum in São Paulo, Brazil. It is housed in the Estação da Luz train station, in the urban district of the same name...
, established in 2006. The Luz Metro station
Luz (São Paulo Metro)
Luz is a station on Line 1 of the São Paulo Metro. Construction of Line 4 will result in Luz being the northern terminus of Line 4 - Yellow. The station is connected to the Luz Station in São Paulo....
is also located within the complex.
History
The station was built in the late 19th century with the purpose of being the headquartersHeadquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of the newly-founded São Paulo Railway
São Paulo Railway
São Paulo Railway was a privately owned British railway company in Brazil, which operated the gauge railway from the seaport at Santos via São Paulo to Jundiaí...
. In the first decades of the 20th century, it was the main entrance to the city, a fact that gave it a major economic relevance, because the majority of the coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
from Santos
Santos (São Paulo)
-Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...
was delivered in the station, along with the imported supplies.
The current building was finished in 1901. The materials for its construction were brought from UK. The station was designed and produced by Walter Macfarlane & Co. Saracen Foundry Glasgow. The station was assembled in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, then disassembled and sent to São Paulo where it was reassembled. The building was designed by the English architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Henry Driver
Henry Driver
Henry Driver was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Otago, New Zealand.He represented the Roslyn electorate from 1869 to 1871, when he resigned, and from 1878 to 1881. He then represented the Hokonui electorate from 1881 to 1884, when he retired.-References:...
.
In the 1940s, the station caught fire and during the rebuilding process, a new floor was added to the building. Since then, the rail transport in Brazil started to decline, the same happened with the Luz neighbourhood. Both factors led to the degradation of the station. However, in the 1990s, the station was repaired.
Cultural influence
The station is a remain from the period when the coffee was a major source of income to the city. For decades, the station tower dominated the city's skyline and its clock was the reference to the other clocks in São Paulo.At its height, in the early 20th century, when the Luz neighbourhood was an important part of the city, the station was part of an architectonic block that was a major reference inside the city. The station helped to build the city's image.
With the construction of the São Paulo Metro
São Paulo Metro
The São Paulo Metro is the principal rapid-transit system in the city of São Paulo and the largest in Brazil. It is also the second largest system in South America and the third largest in Latin America, behind Mexico City and Santiago....
, during the 1970s, the monument to Ramos de Azevedo, a major landmark in the nearby zones, radically changed the image of the landscape, granting, however, a greater sense of monumentality to the station.
See also
- Museum of the Portuguese LanguageMuseum of the Portuguese LanguageThe Museum of the Portuguese Language is an interactive Portuguese language — and Linguistics/Language Development in general — museum in São Paulo, Brazil. It is housed in the Estação da Luz train station, in the urban district of the same name...
- São Paulo MetroSão Paulo MetroThe São Paulo Metro is the principal rapid-transit system in the city of São Paulo and the largest in Brazil. It is also the second largest system in South America and the third largest in Latin America, behind Mexico City and Santiago....