Parque da Água Branca, Historic park in Água Branca, São Paulo, Brazil.
Parque da Água Branca, officially Parque Fernando Costa, covers 136,765.41 m² in the Barra Funda district. Its exhibition pavilions were built in Norman style by engineer Mário Wathely: pale yellow walls, dark half-timbering on the upper floor, reddish-brown tiled roofs, three triangular gables and a ground-floor arcade of rounded arches. The grounds also hold a lake with fish and birds, stables and greenhouses.
The land was acquired in 1905 under a law authorising the city to buy it for a municipal school of pomology and horticulture, which ran until 1911. In 1928 governor Júlio Prestes moved the animal production and exhibition facilities from Mooca to Água Branca, and the park opened on 2 June 1929 as the Dr. Fernando Costa State Park. Condephaat listed it in 1996 and Conpresp in 2004.
The Norman-style pavilions built by engineer Mário Wathely in the 1920s still house breeders' associations, and the Fundo Social de São Paulo moved its headquarters here in 1980. On weekends the park hosts one of São Paulo's largest organic produce fairs, run with the Associação dos Agricultores Orgânicos, alongside a reading space with workshops and children's theatre.
Enter from Avenida Francisco Matarazzo in the Barra Funda district; the grounds cover 136,765.41 m², so plan a route rather than wandering at random. The Fundo Social de São Paulo, the Instituto de Pesca and the Museu Geológico Valdemar Lefèvre sit inside, alongside breeder association buildings. The organic market stalls sell fruit and vegetables without pesticides, and breakfast and afternoon snacks are eaten on site.
The buildings were designed by engineer Mário Wathely in the Norman style, and visiting them at night was one of the park's attractions in its early years. The park also keeps a geological museum, the Museu Geológico Valdemar Lefèvre, and the Instituto de Pesca.
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