Os Candangos, Bronze monument in Praça dos Três Poderes, Brasília, Brazil
Os Candangos is an eight-meter bronze sculpture in the Three Powers Plaza showing two powerful figures standing together. The statue depicts the construction workers who built Brasília from the ground up and symbolizes their collective labor.
Sculptor Bruno Giorgi created this monument in 1959 during the construction of Brasília as the new capital under President Juscelino Kubitschek. The work emerged at a pivotal moment when a remote plateau was being transformed into a functioning federal city.
The term Candangos originally referred to Portuguese colonizers in a derogatory way, later becoming an honorific title for northeastern Brazilian workers. The sculpture honors these men who built the capital with basic tools and determination under harsh conditions.
The monument stands in front of the Planalto Palace in the open air on the Three Powers Plaza and is easy to reach from the main routes serving the area. The plaza itself is flat and spacious, allowing comfortable viewing and photography from all angles.
The two figures were sculpted without idealized details, showing the raw, serious nature of heavy physical labor. Modern sculptor Giorgi avoided sentimentality and instead created an honest memorial for people whose contribution is often overlooked.
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