A concrete nerve center has been removed from the Guanabara Bay viewpoint in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Officially named after former Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek, the Perimetral Elevated Highway went, in a matter of decades, from an urban landmark to a concrete monstrosity in the middle of the metropolis.

Its demolition sparked a fierce "Fla-Flu" (a reference to the rivalry between Flamengo and Fluminense football clubs, used metaphorically to describe a heated debate). Many criticized the construction and wanted it demolished. At the same time, others opposed the demolition, fearing that it would further congest Rio's traffic.

There was no way around it. By decision of Mayor Eduardo Paes, starting in 2013 the tons of concrete and steel were brought down. Its fall became the subject of the temporary exhibition "Perimetral" at the Museum of Tomorrow, curated by artist Vik Muniz and with artistic direction by Andrucha Waddington.

Former Symbol

The sinuous giant of steel and cement began to be planned in the 1940s, when Rio was still the capital of Brazil and already showed signs that, years later, it would feel the effects of the increase in the automotive fleet.

The project left the drawing board in 1957 and the first part of the viaduct, connecting General Justo and Presidente Vargas avenues, was inaugurated in 1960. The rest of the Perimetral, from Praça Mauá to the Rio-Niterói Bridge, was built over 18 years and finally delivered in 1978. More than three decades after the first drafts of the project, the South Zone of Rio would be connected to two of the main accesses to Rio - the Bridge and Avenida Brasil.

The delay did not prevent the work from becoming, at the time, a symbol of the integration of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro and a route of extreme efficiency.

- The Perimetral followed other related models in the world of elevated urban roads, aimed at... "It's a symbol of another era," says Paulo Knauss, a history professor at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF). "The concept of modal integration, as it is affirmed today, did not yet predominate, nor did it have the concern for environmental sustainability."

New times

The idea of ​​ending the Perimetral highway is not new. It emerged with former mayor Luiz Paulo Conde (term from 1997 to 2001). But it was with Rio's selection as the host city for the 2016 Olympics that the plan to "kill" the road was put into practice. A new road project was developed in 2009 and tendered in 2010. Works that would replace the heavy traffic of the Perimetral, such as the Via Binário, were carried out so that the viaduct could be demolished.

Alberto Gomes, president of the Urban Development Company of the Port Region of Rio (Cdurp), considers the demolition of the Perimetral a turning point, which, according to him, made people understand that the priority was now quality of life over individual transportation.

"It was a transformative element for the city, bringing light to places that remained hidden until then. We are already seeing the results of this demolition and revitalization with the construction of Praça Mauá," he explains. - The demolition of the Perimetral highway is Rio's message to the rest of the world that sustainable urbanization is possible.

According to Knauss, it takes time to see, in practice, the expectation of an urban planning model "where functions coexist side-by-side" in the port region, that is, common areas for work, leisure, and residence.

The historian also mentions the concern about gentrification, a social phenomenon affecting large cities undergoing infrastructure projects.

- We still need to wait to see if the current urban reforms represent a new way of thinking about and structuring the city, or if we will continue to witness the expansion of the social exclusion model, which pushes the undesirable to more distant areas and creates better conditions for the expansion of real estate capital - says Knauss.