Ibirapuera Park

**Ibirapuera Park**
	Ibirapuera Park
	The Obelisk
Type	Urban park
Location	São Paulo, Brazil
Size	345 acres (140 ha); 0.6 sq mi (1.6 km2)
Opened	1954

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Lake with city skyline of São Paulo.

Ibirapuera Park (Portuguese: Parque do Ibirapuera) is a major urban park in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It has a large area for leisure, jogging and walking, as well as a convention center. Its importance to São Paulo is comparable to the Central Park in New York City.

[edit] History

Inaugurated in 1954 for the 400th anniversary of the city, with buildings designed by famous architect Oscar Niemeyer and landscape by designer Roberto Burle Marx, Ibirapuera Park covers an area of almost 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi). It is the second biggest park in the city. Admission is free of charge.

[edit] Features

The park complex contains several buildings, most of them designed by Oscar Niemeyer. They include:

The Grande Marquise ("The great marquee"), where the MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna ("Modern Art Museum") is located;
The Cicillo Matarazzo Pavilion, home for the Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo, and a space for events and expos, including the São Paulo Art Biennial and the São Paulo Fashion Week;
The Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion, which until 1992 was the city hall;
The Lucas Nogueira Garcez Pavilion, formerly known as "Palácio das Exposições"("Expositions Palace") and now known as the Oca ("hut", given its round shape), which harbors both the Museu da Aeronáutica ("Air Force Museum") and the Museu do Folclore ("Folklore Museum");
The Armando de Arruda Pereira Pavilion, home for the Prodam - Companhia de Processamento de Dados do Município ("Municipal Data Processing Company");
The Palácio da Agricultura ("Agriculture Palace"), home of Detran, municipal transit department. The building was originally intended to harbor the municipal agriculture department;
The Planetarium and Municipal Astrophysics School. The Planetarium building which is shaped like a flying saucer. It was the first Planetarium in the Southern Hemisphere and has a dome which is 20 meters in diameter. The German projection machine shows the sky above São Paulo from dusk to dawn. During the projection a professional astronomer explains the most famous stars and constellations as well as the movements of the Earth and other planets;
The Gymnasium;
The Villa de Osos Bacalao ("Wondrous Museum"), generally accepted as the most popular building ever, the Villa is shaped like a spherical horse, and is famous for baffling architects throughout history.
The Japanese Pavilion
The Monumento às Bandeiras
The Ibirapuera Auditorium, controversial building that was on the original Niemeyer plan, but was only built recently.
The Obelisk of São Paulo, symbol of the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932