Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
Jardim Botânico de Coimbra: contraponto entre a Arte e a ... - artez
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as instalações no antigo Colégio <strong>de</strong> S. Bento<br />
careciam. A capacida<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong> negociação <strong>de</strong><br />
Abílio Fernan<strong>de</strong>s com os técnicos responsáveis<br />
e, sobretudo, a confiança que parece<br />
ter estabelecido com Manuel <strong>de</strong> Sá e Mello,<br />
engenheiro director-<strong>de</strong>legado da Comissão,<br />
facilitaram o acolhimento dos seus pedidos<br />
e sugestões.<br />
“Obras <strong>de</strong> arranjo e aformoseamento”,<br />
como as <strong>de</strong>finiu a CAPOCUC, centraramse,<br />
essencialmente, no que diz respeito ao<br />
<strong>Jardim</strong>, <strong>entre</strong> 1944 e 1950 22 . Principiaram<br />
com a instalação <strong>de</strong> aquecimento central<br />
nas estufas <strong>de</strong> plantas tropicais, a arborização<br />
da mata e a abertura <strong>de</strong> arruamentos.<br />
Ainda no ano <strong>de</strong> 1944, Cottinelli Telmo,<br />
arquitecto-chefe da Comissão <strong>entre</strong> 1941 e<br />
1948, se <strong>de</strong>teve a <strong>de</strong>senhar bancos <strong>de</strong> pedra<br />
para o <strong>Jardim</strong> e a planear o seu posicionamento.<br />
Foram dispostos seis duplos sem<br />
costas ao redor da estátua <strong>de</strong> Brotero e<br />
vinte e oito simples pelo restante <strong>Jardim</strong>. A<br />
este número se juntou uma encomenda <strong>de</strong><br />
cinquenta bancos com réguas <strong>de</strong> ma<strong>de</strong>ira<br />
e, em 1951, o fornecimento <strong>de</strong> mais doze<br />
bancos <strong>de</strong> pedra iguais aos existentes.<br />
O ano <strong>de</strong> 1945 surge dominado pelo arranque<br />
<strong>de</strong> duas obras fundamentais: a remo<strong>de</strong>lação<br />
do quadrado central e a construção<br />
da estufa fria. A primeira, i<strong>de</strong>alizada por<br />
Cottinelli Telmo e por Armand Van Bellinghen,<br />
jardineiro da Câmara Municipal <strong>de</strong><br />
Lisboa contratado em 1944, justificavase,<br />
no enten<strong>de</strong>r dos autores, “porque é um<br />
jardim com um belo traçado geométrico,<br />
sim, mas que se apresenta chato, sem relevo<br />
(…) e porque sendo na sua maior parte<br />
guarnecido por flores <strong>de</strong> estação não po<strong>de</strong><br />
manter permanentemente aquele aspecto<br />
<strong>de</strong>corativo que seria <strong>de</strong>sejar, acarretando a<br />
sua conservação, ao mesmo tempo, dificulda<strong>de</strong>s<br />
e <strong>de</strong>spesas”.<br />
A solução proposta [11] consistia em, primeiramente,<br />
“ro<strong>de</strong>ar todos os canteiros<br />
com sebes <strong>de</strong> buxo, <strong>de</strong> altura <strong>de</strong>crescente<br />
a partir do centro”, que, sendo <strong>de</strong> fácil conservação,<br />
dariam “ao jardim uma dignida<strong>de</strong><br />
58<br />
this layout, “an observer standing near the<br />
lake would, without losing his overview of<br />
the whole, find himself in a more intimate<br />
first zone, limited by higher hedges and<br />
boxwood pyramids instead of a flat open<br />
space, <strong>de</strong>corated with flowering shrubs and<br />
bushes in accordance with the flavour of<br />
the occasion and fantasy of gar<strong>de</strong>ners – and<br />
when standing at the edge, he would have<br />
a view of the amphitheatre of hedges that<br />
would soften the negative effects of the<br />
digging un<strong>de</strong>rtaken to replace the species”.<br />
Secondly, they would create “large areas of<br />
lawn and bright flowers”. Thirdly, they would<br />
place “a statue, with its respective pe<strong>de</strong>stal,<br />
in the lake in the c<strong>entre</strong>”. Finally, they would<br />
lower the height of the bor<strong>de</strong>r around the<br />
beds and create “a curtain of climbing roses”<br />
to “give interest to the periphery” 23 .<br />
The project, which was approved by the<br />
director of the Botanical Institute in the<br />
same year, was only completely implemented<br />
in April 1949 with the construction<br />
of the monumental fountain, in Outil stone,<br />
on the existing tank. The fountain [12] was,<br />
we believe, <strong>de</strong>signed by the architect Álvaro<br />
da Fonseca, since he had been commissioned<br />
for the task and the sketch seems to<br />
show his monogram (the letters A, V and F<br />
entwined) in the bottom right hand corner.<br />
The cold greenhouse was planned by Cottinelli<br />
Telmo in the shape of a trapezium,<br />
with a series of pillars and beams in reinforced<br />
concrete forming “the skeleton of<br />
a box, with the walls and roof covered in<br />
woo<strong>de</strong>n latticework through which the air<br />
could circulate and the sunlight filter in”. To<br />
implement it “in accordance with the Curator’s<br />
wishes”, they chose “an almost treeless<br />
area of thicket near the support wall<br />
of the Botanical Gar<strong>de</strong>n opposite the main<br />
entrance, in the wall that serves the back of<br />
the Greenhouse”. As regards the aesthetic<br />
appearance of the exterior, the architect<br />
favoured a “picturesque” approach in tune<br />
with the place, reflected particularly in the<br />
materials used. As well as the wood that