The Building
The architectural structure of the ICBIE headquarters consists of three floors dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, but perhaps the first construction work on the building began at the end of the 19th century.
The eclectic style seems to blend with a serene and elegant liberty style, with something of the baroque style and classic English influences, which are apparent not only in the size of the windows but also in their geometry.
In fact, it has a tympanum to the east and another to the west, with false pillars and capitals, decorations with scallop shells, shellfish that symbolize wealth, and with floral crowns and three circles, which surely portray some esoteric symbolism, probably important to the contracting family or even to the architect.
At the entrance is where ME.PE. Memories of the Peninsula.
A courtyard gives access to the main rooms, which house a study room combined with the library and three other rooms for administration and internal organization.
A hall with a sea view for exhibitions and conferences connects the two floors via a spiral staircase made of rosewood. On the upper floor there is another room with a sea view.
There are four well-distributed toilets.
On the second floor there are also restricted access rooms with three more rooms and a large lounge, kitchen and bathroom.
The solid walls were laid with a mixture of whale oil, bricks and mortar. The floor is lined with hardwood floors, restored without altering the original structure. Around 40 windows and 20 doors have been restored and the wooden roof has been rebuilt with ceramic tiles, maintaining the old structure. The electrical system was completely renovated, an urgent and necessary intervention to prevent a possible fire, considering the disastrous conditions in which it was previously located.
Like other buildings in the Ribeira district, the headquarters was built as a large summer house, 6 km from Pelourinho and the Mercado Modelo, at the time an active port and commercial area in the city of Salvador. The final part of the Itapagipe Peninsula was then a farm, or rather a large estate belonging to the wealthy Amado Bahia shipowning family.
The same family that built, almost at the same time, the famous Amado-Bahia Manor House, a monument protected by the Federal Government, a miniature “Versailles” for Bahia’s upper bourgeoisie. (This manor house once housed a school and has now been renovated to house the Ice Cream Museum, which tells the story of ice cream and the Amado-Bahia family, with an ice cream parlor in the background).
So many other typical buildings began to spring up at that time, initially for the many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Amado Bahia family, and it is assumed that a lot of land was sold to divide the large farm into small properties. This assumption comes from the speed with which a large number of small houses were built between the 1910s and 1930s, considering that the family may have been made up of around three hundred members. Our headquarters evidently belonged to a grandson of the family, as it stands out for its discreetly imposing proportions and serene, sober elegance.
From the 50s it was the headquarters of Esporte Clube Bahia de Futebol, which probably rented it until the end of the 60s. It is said in the area that Dona Raquel, the oldest descendant of the Bahia Ramos family, lived in this mansion until the early ’70s and maintained the building well.
Between the end of the 1990s and the end of 2003, it was rented out and used for various activities such as a painter’s and sculptor’s studio, more than one restaurant, a printing press, a nightclub, a service agency, a handicrafts laboratory, a gas depot, a bicycle workshop, etc.
RESTORATIONS
When we arrived, we found the roof completely ruined, the timbers devoured by the terrible tropical termites, there were cracks in the plaster of the internal walls, the electrical installation was badly compromised, there was water seepage, the toilets were in terrible condition, as well as poorly fitted doors and windows, floors and ceilings with cracks in the wood or completely loose.
However, guided by great enthusiasm, the initial and urgent restoration was quick and almost miraculous. We gave the building back its history and youth, in other words, a new lease of life. Today it is no longer an abandoned, decaying monument, as, unfortunately, there are so many others in the most beautiful and oldest parts of Salvador, which are almost always scandalously knocked down for the reconstruction of modern buildings.
In addition to the mansion described above, which is entered from Rua Porto dos Tainheiros, the association has a large physical structure at the back and, as it is a corner property, it also has a side entrance on Rua Júlio David.
The side entrance gives access to a multifunctional room for film screenings, sports activities, stage shows and other types of events, as well as a classroom plus two toilets and an outdoor space of around 150m2.