# National Library of Brazil



## EUAFU (Oct 5, 2020)

National Library of Brazil

This is no joke and it is the past of just over a hundred years ago. Do not believe?


Here is the National Library of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. Its collection is one of the largest in South America and one of the largest in the world. According to official data, the library dates from 1810, the year in which the Portuguese elite was evacuated from the European continent to Brazil due to the wars, when Portugal and Brazil were one state. Subsequently, the elite returned to Portugal, but the collection remained in Brazil. To house the collection, a building financed by the State was built in the period between 1905-1910 and is represented in the main photograph.

With few changes (at the time this article was written, that is, before the mysterious fire) it is still (was) used to house the library. It is a neoclassical style building, the existence of which, we must underline, is very common on all continents. In this library were kept two albums, one of which contained the photos of the construction period of the library and the other, as they say, the photos of its entry into operation. While watching them, I found some strange facts.




Construction of the National Library of Brazil building. Years 1905-1910.


Construction of the National Library of Brazil building. Years 1905-1910.




Construction of the National Library of Brazil building. Years 1905-1910.

As we can see, the pictures of the construction records were clearly not taken daily. Between the various phases of the work, several months passed, since the cranes do not appear in the photos. The magnitude of the construction is impressive. Hundreds of tons of metal have been spent. Would it be possible to build a building like this anywhere in Moscow? Probably yes, but the cost would certainly come close to the value of buildings in Moscow's most valuable region. Why, then, could Portugal, then a third world country, include in the budget the financing of a work like this? (In fact, Portugal has nothing to do with the construction of this work, Brazil was independent since 1822, the work is from the 20th century) Perhaps this is one of the mysteries that intrigues beginning economists.

But let's anticipate discussions about St. Petersburg. Certainly a building like this could be built there at that time. Metal production in Russia reached an industrial level in the second half of the 19th century. So, if the building is built in bricks with a metallic structure like this, it has every chance of being from the end of the 19th century. But if stone blocks are used in place of bricks, including interior reinforcement (often existing), then it is necessary to date this construction at a time when it was still possible to make this metallic structure. According to historical material, at the time of Peter I of Russia it was not possible to do this.

It turns out that there was an indefinite period of time in the 19th century when the metallurgical industry suddenly disappeared around the world. It was only resumed in the second half of the 19th century when, instead of the original forge products, metal production started to be produced in industrial volume. The geopolitical technologies of concrete disappeared at the same time and have not been restored on an industrial scale until today. We will return to this subject, but now we will resume the process of building the library.




Why was it necessary to reinforce the masonry with this metallic structure?





Obviously, this is the structure of a rear wing of the domed roof. Conventional design of the frame of the structure, with all connections riveted or screwed. Joint welding apparently was not practiced or was not very common at the time.





Here is the same detail of the construction, from a different angle. Everywhere, the structure is quite powerful.




There are arches in the building structure, executed in the conventional way. The metal housing structure (on the right) is embedded in the masonry, practically everywhere.





The filling of the floors is carried out according to the usual technology, widely used now. To save concrete, the spaces are filled with a special arch shape.





Above the pavement already filled, a metallic mesh. Nothing new: technology has not changed over the years.




This is, of course, one of the dependencies. The semicircular cornice of the side piece is also made of concrete or mortar. In this case, we see very strange tubes coming out of the masonry. What is it? Ventilation?





The building's foundations are made of normal hewn stones, as was always done at that time. The stones were obviously not filled as it can be seen that there is still no time to cut them.





All screwing of the connections is scrupulously performed and nowhere is there a lack of screws or mismatched holes (changing the metal thickness at the time was practically impossible). The photographer recorded this type of detail and there are many pictures like this.

The result at the end of the construction process is this beauty:









In the courtyard of the library building, there are no ancillary facilities for the engineering network. Because? But we are not going to run.

There are 44 photos with the description of the details, except for the zero moment. And we can only guess at how our structure rests on the ground. A pity, of course, but from the existing photos, there is a lot of material to analyze. Anyway, in the photo album of the construction of the library building there is something strange.





The album has a meticulous record of the assembly of the building structure, the masonry and the filling of all the slabs. Including photos of the fourth floor, already with the plaster. But, for some reason, there is absolutely no photo of the making of this plaster on the fourth floor, or at least part of this work, although it is clear that this process has dragged on for more than a day. However, this is not the only enigma.





As can be seen, during the construction of the fourth floor, for some reason, the masonry had not even been completed on the top of the balcony. Even the cornice work, already done, is suspended in the air. Maybe a bad photo angle?





This is the rear wing of the building, which does not have a fourth floor. And the same situation. For some unknown reason, the work was not completed at this location, although the upper part is already ready. And the metallic frame of the building is very visible and, in this place, it is reinforced with supports. What is all this for? The conclusion is one: in this place something must be placed that should only be placed after the building is ready. And what would it be? But let's go ahead.

Strangely, on the same album, there is absolutely no image of the internal finishes. None. In addition, despite all the richness of the library's collection, you will not find a single photograph of the interior finish. The same can be said about all the other major digital libraries in the world in relation to buildings of the same size. What is the secret preserved in the finishing of neoclassical buildings? It may be necessary to look at the result of this final process, at least in the case of the Brazilian library.



















It impresses. Seeing the shape of the building's initial frame, we soon came to the conclusion that all the columns were made of metal before and that the marble and granite that covers them is artificial. Carving the round columns in stone and then placing them in this framework would be impossible, this is obvious. Yes, and this is the same geopolymer concrete, the technology of which was known in 1910. One of the photos shows apparent artificial vaults. In the structure elements there were no semicircular details and, for this reason, an additional semicircular metallic structure was made in the vaults, and they were also made in geopolymeric concrete. In addition, the exterior finish of the fourth floor walls was also made of geopolymer concrete. Someone demanded that this technology be kept secret and that is why there are no photos of the production of these works. But this is not all.

Look closely at the abundance of lamps of different shapes and designs in each room. There is no doubt that they are all electric. There are many kinds of lamps and the use of gas in buildings of this type would be dangerous. And can you imagine how many kVA these lamps consume in peak mode? It is difficult to perform this calculation. In this case, the building should have a large electrical substation or a large diesel substation. But, as we saw above, there are no ancillary facilities in the library yard. Furthermore, the distribution boxes that accompany the internal and external wiring are nowhere to be seen. Without them, it was simply impossible to build electricity networks in large buildings of the time with complex networks. The electrical wires of the time had paper insulation and were very unreliable, so any installation was done only outside, thus providing visual observation, ease of maintenance and fire safety.

But where are the switches?





As you can see, in the columns there are some kind of controls (“sliders”) that close the chain when they are moved up and down. But inside the columns there is only a metal frame, which we analyzed in the previous photos. Is it possible that this “slider” only connects the chain of an electrical group to the metal frame of the building? There can be no other meaning here. Well, at least, all the columns were not remotely sculpted somewhere in the cutting workshop and there is no doubt that they are filled with some special substance. In addition, the arcades are also full of this same mysterious material, which is an order of magnitude more complicated than filling the hollow columns, where the material must be dumped. As a result, we have a group of light bulbs interconnected by metallic connections.

This metal connection is electrically isolated from the building structure and is connected to it by a switch. And this metal bond is hidden in the geopolymeric concrete layer. And we have a conventional single wire power supply for lighting lamps. But, as we know, such a scheme is only possible if a container with a special substance is attached to the structure of the building and, in our case, these containers are not visible, even in old photos. So, what's the secret? Let's go back to the construction of the building.









As we have seen, certain places remained unfinished for some reason, while everything else was ready. What did they want to hide in these places? Well, it is clear that it was these containers, or vases, with special content. For some reason, the architect did not want to expose them and used an internal installation. Then we realized that the bottom picture of these reservoirs was somehow located at this level:





Hang on. And what are these round holes that are located in the building at a given elevation? The top photo shows that ceramic (or geopolymer?) Frames were inserted in these openings in the apparent shape of the sun, without glass. And what do these window openings represent in this close-up photo?









As you can see, these windows are absolutely unnecessary in terms of lighting. What were they for? Ironically, in another album there was a photo at exactly the same angle as the photo above, but only taken after the finished work.




As you can see, our three windows are covered with decorative panels, which are related to the photograph of that section of wall where there are no windows. And there is no indication that these panels were easily removable to provide relatively easy access to those windows. Thus, the version that the purpose of these windows would be for lighting, or ventilation, disappears completely. What would these windows be? In fact, everything fits together, if these windows, or the niches in them, were nothing more than the place for the hidden storage of containers filled with a certain substance, a place commonly called “hiding place”.

This substance is nothing more than mercury diluted in tin, which, in the right amount, fills the structure of the building with an electric field and illuminates the lamps. And the electricity itself is extracted from the atmosphere. With the similar electrical lighting system in the buildings it was not so simple. After the building was ready, this lighting system was adjusted, placing the right amount of this substance above the porch and in the corners of the building. After that, the necessary amount of diluted mercury was additionally placed in these small window niches, or in one of the three, or two, or three at once, following the results of the adjustment, and then they were closed. The secret was simple. But this was only on the second floor. And where would you be in the first? Let's look at the building again.





Let's try to find a picture of the structure's construction in that place.









We also observed that under the dome of the structure there is a section that is also reinforced with supports, as we saw in similar places in the corners of the building.



And, for some reason, this site was also not completed with the settlement, although the roofing works had already started.




It is clearly visible that in this place between the vault and the ceiling there is a space where a person can move freely. And outside this place in the dome, obviously pieces of metal were placed, which indicates that there must be some kind of niche behind them:




A similar situation occurs on the two roofs of the side wings.








The closed part of the roof is largely hidden within the false ceiling.





The space for placing containers with the tin amalgam was also there. And we realized that they were placed at three height levels. Judging by these height levels, the first was above the central dome, the next two were above the sides and the third level was along the perimeter of the building, above the third floor, where the walls had cavities. Such an engineering system provided atmospheric electricity to a building as big as this one and also to the lampposts next to it. And that was completely free and without any problem with the electricity vendors. This whole set provided atmospheric electricity and, if necessary, was capable of providing any energy capacity to anyone who wanted to. But suddenly, some force had to destroy this technology on a global scale. Isn't it time to restore?

However, this engineering network did not only provide electrical coverage. There were some devices that converted the energy of atmospheric electricity to steam, which in turn converted it into ordinary three-phase electricity. Machines that converted atmospheric electricity to steam at that time were widespread. They were shown at industrial exhibitions and there are many photographs about them. As you may have guessed, now these machines are also destroyed everywhere and can no longer be found whole, even in the Brazilian library with relatively weak censorship. However, there were such machines in the Brazilian library and they supplied power to the compressor that fed presses and machines for binding books. As you can understand, this same system of containers with mercury diluted in tin, positioned at different levels, existed in the architecture of the library building.








As you can see, there is a mechanical transmission in the downstairs binding room. This transmission is powered by some type of device, but it is not clear what resource it uses.








And, in the basement of the library, this is the equipment for bookbinding, which obviously worked with pneumatic energy. All engineering networks were made with apparent design, which is not aesthetically pleasing.





This is the same compressor that generates air pressure for the operation of the binding machines. And on the left, there is some strange device. Apparently, it is the ventilation machine, which works on an electric motor. But all devices that generate electricity from steam, interestingly, are hidden behind the scenes. They are probably not even in this library now.

Post Scriptum: I suspect that the entire fourth floor was built of geopolymer concrete. But the answer to this question is only possible after visiting the site, which not everyone can do.

link

https://www.tart-aria.info/pt-br/mude-para-o-passado/
As you noticed this post is the translation of an article I found in Brazilian Portuguese. There is probably one in English, but I didn't find it. I found it in Russian.

I made some adjustments and also inserted small comments between   (     )   .


In 1907 to organize the new building under construction, Manoel Cícero Peregrino da Silva, then director of the Library, spent eight months in the United States and Europe, visiting large public libraries, in order to learn about the best technologies and to contract the supply of material yet does not exist in Brazil.


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## Wolfgang (Oct 5, 2020)

Amazing post, thank you.


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## EUAFU (Oct 5, 2020)

In 1909 the metallic furniture, manufactured by Art Metal Construction Company, begins to be assembled. The pieces are all in enameled steel, with the exception of the chairs, which have an iron base and the wooden top with straw seat and the leather-backed backrest.


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## Gold (Oct 6, 2020)

I have a feeling most construction photos are more likely repairs or even renovations, probably both but primarily renovations to remove evidence of past tech to fit the changing and now cemented narrative. The first decade of the 1900s seems to be a reoccurring period for these kinds of "construction" photos too. And as far the photos of bare metal frames we have no proof they were taken when they were dated, it's possible they were genuinely building new structures with the weird basement window quirk that would go on to have the ground around it filled at an incline but its just as likely these photos were actually taken before the early/mid 1800s series of disasters


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## Citezenship (Dec 21, 2020)

Funny how they seemed to remove the cranes in-between photo op's!

Also the bottom half of the building looks like a mini star fort, half buried of course, you could say half course!

Fantastic building, unfortunately when i was in rio i was only at the airport for a couple of hours!

And of course it's neighbours/siblings are just as spectacular, did anyone say exhibition.....


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