Aerial view of Fordlândia in 1934
A Brazilian court has ordered federal and local authorities to restore and preserve Fordlândia, the ambitious Amazonian city founded nearly a century ago by North American industrialist Henry Ford. The location was supposed to imitate an idyllic North American suburb, but was dramatically abandoned.
Almost 100 years ago, Henry Ford built a utopian city in the Amazon. The venture was a disaster.
In 1927, the North American industrialist wanted to found a city based on the values that had made his company prosper – and, of course, produce cheap rubber. Fordlândia, the city in the jungle that bore his name, ended up becoming .
Henry Ford never visited Fordlândia, despite the city bearing his name. THE administration of the enclave was in the hands of intermediaries who never managed to master the complexities of the Amazon.
The venture, which became the third largest settlement in the Amazon, failed after the diseases devastate rubber plantationsleading to its abandonment. The Brazilian Government acquired the site in 1945.
Two weeks ago, after more than a decade of legal proceedings, a judge in the state of Pará ordered federal authorities and places that restore and preserve ambitious Amazonian citycurrently a ghost town and district of the municipality of Aveiro, in the state of Pará, in northern Brazil.
Prosecutors hailed the ruling as a important framework in protecting the heritage of that location, says the .
The legal battle began in 2015, when the Federal Public Ministry in Pará sued Iphan, Brazilian Institute of Architectural Heritage, and the municipality of Aveiro for not preserving Fordlândia. The action also demanded that the city receive protected location status.
“Fordlândia is a remarkable chapter in the history of Brazil and global industry. The project was a North American attempt to challenge the British rubber monopoly, bringing cutting-edge infrastructure, including a hospital, piped water, electricity and a cinema, to the heart of the Amazon in the 1920s,” stated the Brazilian Public Ministry.
Although is not officially recognized as heritagethe court concluded that Fordlândia has historical relevancecultural and architectural, whose protection is mandatory under the Brazilian Constitution.
The decision obliges the Government and the municipality to develop and execute a recovery plan for the district, providing for possible financial sanctions in case of non-compliance.
