Abandoned city ‘Fordlandia’ set to be restored decades after its downfall
This photo provided by the Brazilian Federal Justice shows a building in Fordlandia, Para, Brazil (Brazilian Federal Justice via AP)
A Brazilian court has ordered federal and local authorities to restore and preserve Fordlandia, the ambitious Amazonian city founded nearly a century ago by U.S. industrialist Henry Ford.
Fordlandia was established in 1927 by the Ford Motor Company in Brazil‘s northern state of Pará, conceived as a rubber-tapping metropolis to secure a steady supply of natural rubber for tires, designed to mimic an idyllic American suburb.
Once the third-largest settlement in the Amazon, the venture ultimately failed as disease ravaged rubber tree plantations, leading to its abandonment, with the Brazilian government acquiring the site in 1945.
The legal battle for its preservation began in 2015 when Brazil’s federal prosecutors’ office sued the national architectural heritage agency and the city of Aveiro for failing to protect the site, highlighting its significance as a landmark in global industry.
After more than a decade of legal proceedings, the court ruled that Fordlandia possesses historical, cultural, and architectural significance, mandating that the government and municipality develop and implement a recovery plan with potential financial penalties for noncompliance.
