Inspection and rehabilitation of the marquee of the Ibirapuera Park in Brazil

Reinforced concrete is the structural material that distinguished the architecture related to the world modernist movement. In Brazil, the main representative of this movement was the architect Oscar Niemeyer, known for exploring the potential of producing curved structures with reinforced concrete. Ibirapuera Park was built in the 1950s and features a historic marquee of 29,000 m2 made of reinforced concrete. After more than 50 years, this construction has presented pathological manifestations that motivated the need for an inspection, diagnosis and rehabilitation project for this structure. This article presents a technical-scientific discussion applied to a real case, carried out in the period of 2005 and 2006. The work, which is a record and important example of detailed inspection of a construction with historical significance, showed the main problems encountered and the solutions implemented. Various inspection methods were applied to support the diagnosis of the main problems encountered. It was found that there is a need to remove excess loading of the slab due to the overlap of waterproofing systems. In addition, there is a need for repairs and rehabilitation of corroded reinforcements in pillars, beams and slabs. Finally, it is evident that the entire concrete structure of the marquee, now over 65 years old, needs to be protected with the use of high-efficiency paints to drastically restrict the entry of water and oxygen into the concrete, stagnating the process of corrosion deterioration of the reinforcements already installed.