“By night I roam the city searching but not finding you,” rings the opening line of the song Ronda by Paulo Vanzolini. For three decades Vanzolini by day directed one of Brazil’s leading research institutions, the University of São Paulo’s Zoological Museum, while composing classic sambas by night.
Visitors to Vanzolini’s São Paulo often find themselves in an analogous search for their bearings. The bohemian scientist’s hometown of 11 million sprawls into a hodgepodge of immigrant neighborhoods, shantytowns and skyscrapers. The latest in elegant global fashion turns up side-by-side with... well, the unmentionable. No wonder São Paulo has been suggested as the ideal setting for a Blade Runner remake.
Perhaps not coincidentally, São Paulo is home to Brazil’s most important research university, its most important research financing institution and its most important technological institute. All three are funded by São Paulo state and not by the federal government.
The São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP), the financing foundation, organized a multi-institution genome project that allows for cooperation on research and progress without the necessity to build new expensive centralized infrastructure.
The Institute for Technological Research (IPT) focuses on practical applications of scientific research. One recent initiative is a wind tunnel – a 40-meter diameter apparatus - that simulates wind and pollution in the atmosphere. It has been used by architects in their effort to renovate Brazil’s biggest and probably most visited Catholic Church, Nossa Senhora de Aparecida, which attracts pilgrims to a site where the Virgin Mary once made a personal appearance. Another IPT project provides assistance regarding valuable metals to poor scavengers who earn their livelihoods by collecting and selling scrap metal and other recyclable materials.
São Paulo is home to perhaps the world’s only viable professional theater company that presents only plays on scientific themes - the repertory group Arte Ciência no Palco (Science Art on Stage).The troupe featured Oxygen, co-written by two renowned chemists, Nobel Prize Winner Roald Hoffmann and Carl Djerassi (the father of the pill), in 2006 at the Teatro Ruth Escobar, a top São Paulo venue. Djerassi was in town for the April premiere and proffered a day-before warm-up lecture about science and literature. The group produces plays year-round. “This is how we earn our livings. We’re always thinking of the next play,” said actor Oswaldo Mendes.
On the heels of Oxygen, São Paulo hosted another one-of-a-kind event: the third edition of Emoção Art.ficial – a biennial exhibition organized by Itaulab, a research center for emerging technologies in interactive media. Itaulab is a project of Itaú Cultural. The 2006 edition included cutting edge works on the theme Cybernetic Interface. Exhibits included Jon McCormack’s evolutionary installation of artificial life entitled Eden. Eden’s ecosystem is composed of three basic elements: rocks (purple), biomass (blue) and sound-making agents (orange) that interact and evolve. The system maps the physical position of the public, and biomass grows near the spectators, and the system adjusts as people change positions. An agent may, for example, sing to attract people and thus nutrients. About Emoção Art.Ficial, Itaulab Coordinator Guilherme Kujawski says: “The idea is to address art, science and technology.”
Permanent and Regularly Scheduled São Paulo Science Attractions Open To the Public
Butantã Institute (Instituto Butantã) - This pioneering snake farm and museum is South America’s leading snake research center. It has an excellent museum of venomous vipers, spiders and scorpions from around the world. There's an open-air snake pit where you can watch the animals in action. It also houses a microbiology museum. Butantã was described by Teddy Roosevelt as “one of the most interesting evidences of the modern advance in Brazil” after a 1913 visit. Butantã’s snake exhibition will leave visitors similarly impressed. “From a scientific and technological point of view, Butantã is very important,” says Carlos Vogt, linguist, poet and president of FAPESP. “It is an important center for the development of vaccines.” Avenida Vital Brasil 1500. Telefone: 3726-7222
House of Knowledge (Casa do Saber) – The initiative of a São Paulo investment banker, Jair Ribeiro, dedicated to the debate and dissemination of knowledge about art, social science, film, philosophy, physics, literature, history, music and psychology. Two addresses in São Paulo: Rua Dr. Mário Ferraz, 414
Jardim Paulistano, telephone: 3255-8900; and Rua Itambé, 315-A, Higienópolis, telephone: 3707-8900.
Museum of the Portuguese Language (Museu da Língua Portuguesa) – This recently inaugurated museum is the first ever dedicated to the Portuguese language. Located in the historic (and still active) central train station, Luz, it is proving to be a crowd pleaser. Praça da Luz, no street number. Telephone: 3326-0775.
Ibirapuera Planetarium (Planetário do Ibirapuera) – Inaugurated in 1957 and recently renovated, the planetarium is located in the Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo’s answer to Central Park. Recommended by Carlos Vogt, linguist, poet and president of FAPESP. Parque do Ibirapuera, Gate 10, on the Avenida Pedro Álvares Cabral. Telephone: 5575-5425
Science Station (Estação Ciência) – Administered by the University of São Paulo and housed in a renovated abandoned factory. Mostly for kids, with regular visits by school children. Exhibits address astronomy, physics, meteorology, hydrology, math, computer science, geology, geography and city planning, history, biology, etc. “Worth a visit,” says Carlos Vogt, linguist, poet and president of FAPESP. Rua Guaicurus, 1394, Lapa. Telephone: 3673-7022.
University of São Paulo (USP) (USP) - A São Paulo state institution, USP is Brazil’s leading research university. One important initiative is the City of Knowledge (Cidade do Conhecimento), a groundbreaking institution dedicated to new media and digital technology. Several of the institutes and museums on campus are open to the general public, including: the School of the Future, the Professor Alfonso Bovero Museum of Human Anatomy and the USP Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. Cidade Universitária, Butantã. Telephone: 3091-4212.
Zoological Museum (Museu de Zoologia) – Run by the University of São Paulo, the museum presents examples of Brazil’s biodiversity, perhaps the world’s richest. Old paintings of fauna, covered up by subsequent reforms, once again adorn the walls. Among the most popular attractions are ants preserved in amber and a whale cranium. Avenida Nazaré, 481, Ipiranga. Telephone: 6165-8100
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