Federal Court prevents the sale of the Capanema Palace by the Union

The Federal Court granted an injunction that determines that the Capanema Palace, a historic building in Rio de Janeiro, is not sold by the Federal Government.

The decision was taken by Judge Maria Amélia Almeida Senos de Carvalho, of the 23rd Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, in response to a public civil action filed by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) in November last year.

In August, it was announced that the building would be part of an auction of iconic properties that belong to the Union.

The Gustavo Capanema Palace, listed by Iphan (National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute), was inaugurated in 1945 to be the headquarters of the then Ministry of Education and Health during the Vargas government. The institute defines it as a symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.

The building was designed by Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Carlos Leão, Ernany de Vasconcelos and Jorge Machado Moreira, under the consultancy of Le Corbusier. Landscape designer Burle Marx and painter Cândido Portinari also contributed to the project.

According to the judge’s decision, the palace’s listing prevents its sale to individuals, and the Union must refrain from offering and accepting any purchase proposal, if it is formulated by entities, institutions and persons of a private nature. If you do not respect the decision, the fine was set at R$ 5,000 per day.

According to Carvalho, the injunction is necessary because the sale of the building is still a possibility, “which could lead to unwanted changes that violate the principle of tipping.”

Architects criticized the intention to sell the Capanema Palace, and even launched a manifesto against the operation in August. The movement was led by CAU (Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil) and supported by other entities in the sector.

In the same month, the special secretary for Privatization, Divestment and Markets, Diego Mac Cord, stated that the building had been closed for seven years and had consumed more than R$ 150 million in works.

“We have countless cases in Brazil and in the world of private initiative taking care of historical and cultural assets much better than the government,” he said. He pointed out, however, that there were still no proposals for the purchase of the historic building, and that the government would only discuss the sale if there were interested parties.

The Department of Privatization, Divestment and Market was approached to comment on the injunction, but did not respond until the report was published.