1ª Travessia do Atlântico Sul Sculpture - Lisboa, Portugal
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 38° 45.288 W 009° 08.334
29S E 487931 N 4289576
On March 30, 1922 Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral, made the first air crossing of the South Atlantic. They were hommaged with this sculpture but there was a lot of resistance to this sculpture and it was moved from the riverside to this location.
Waymark Code: WMDTT5
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Date Posted: 02/24/2012
Views: 8
On March 30, 1922 Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral (Portuguese Aviation Pioneers), made the first air crossing of the South Atlantic between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro.
They started with the seaplane "Lusitania", and successfully completed it with the "Santa Cruz".
The achievement was celebrated with the monument opened in June 17, 1972, in Belem (at this location N 38° 41.520 W 009° 12.840), 50 years after that event (This sculpture).
The sculpture evolved there in a scenario in the mirror of water, symbolizing the Atlantic. The site chosen for its construction was related to the proximity of the dock departure. It was an initiative of the City council and is the sculptor José Joaquim Laranjeira Santos and the architect Antonio Rodrigues Fernandes.
The structure consists in a heavy concrete pedestal, cube shaped and a stainless steel frame. From the base a wing opens with unusual lightness. From this complex and asymmetrical form seem´s to symbolically forward the various paths that would be the expression of the persistence of the heroic pilots. The aesthetic effect, marked by several incidents of light in the wing reminds the sometimes tortuous oscillations of the effort necessary to open the path of discovery.
From the center emerges the sextant, a sixth of a circle, a navigational tool that combining of two visual points on mirror measures with great precision, the angles, the heights of the stars and the angular distances between two points along the coast.
Early the resistance to this visual language emerged, because in the the work "... does not speak the average Portuguese... and ... even the Admiral Américo Thomaz (President at the time of inauguration), when he inaugurated the monument , was very disappointed ... ".
The sculpture was thus replaced by that currently installed in Belem, a life-size replica of the flying boat "Santa Cruz" by Soares Branco (See this waymark (
visit link) ).
This piece by Laranjeira Santos, had inaugurated a modern, abstract monument in Portugal, especially commended in the prestigious journal "Public Art - New Directions" from New York.
After being withdrawn from Belem, was placed in the roundabout at the intersection of Avenida Rio de Janeiro and Avenida da Igreja in 2001 where it is today.
(From Lisboa Patrimonio Cultural)