The story of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue

Perched on the Corcovado — a 704-meter-high granite outcrop looming above Rio de Janeiro — the Christ the Redeemer statue sweeps its arms out in a warm embrace, welcoming visitors to the city of samba.

For over a century, the statue has been its symbol. In February 1922, architect Heitor da Silva Costa won the competition to design what sounded like a foolhardy project: an enormous statue of Jesus teetering on a high mountain peak as slim as a toothpick. It was inaugurated nine years later.

Nearly 100 years on, the statue — 29.9 meters high with an arm span of 28 meters — is still standing, as a testament to the engineering prowess of the Brazilians who built it.

Paulo Vidal, architect and superintendent of the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), said, “Civil engineering in Brazil has always been at the forefront of the world, especially in reinforced concrete construction.”

Although the Christ the Redeemer looks like a stone sculpture, it’s actually a concrete building covered in soapstone tablets. The statue’s genesis came from a bid to turn back a post-World War I “sea of godlessness” by installing a figure of Jesus Christ to watch over Rio, visible from anywhere in the city. A competition to design the statue was held and Da Silva Costa won the commission.

Initially he designed the sculpture as Christ on the road to Calvary, carrying his cross and a globe in his other hand. Luckily, with the help of artist Carlos Oswald, he switched to the more streamlined, modernist design, in which Christ’s outstretched arms not only form the shape of the cross themselves, but seem to embrace the city below it. French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski collaborated on the final design, streamlining the shape even further, bringing it in line with Art Deco style that was all the rage at the time.

Building such a colossal structure on top of a high peak was difficult. “The big challenge was to design a project that would withstand the weather,” said Vidal, adding that the peak of Corcovado is “exposed to very aggressive atmospheric conditions.”

Rio architects were already adept in concrete — the A Noite building, a city newspaper headquarters, was the highest building in Latin America when it was inaugurated in 1929. Da Silva Costa and his team used that experience, cladding the Christ’s concrete core in steatite, which is known as an insulator, and was traditionally used as cooking pots in the state of Minas Gerais. It’s tough, too — a century on, the cladding is still well preserved.

The team decided on a mosaic effect — invisible from far away, but adding detail for those who made the pilgrimage to see it up close. There are around 6 million tiles on the statue in total. (SD-Agencies)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【风靡一时】fēngmǐ yīshí all the rage very popular at a particular time

【马赛克】mǎsàikè mosaic a surface decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material

里约热内卢704米高的科尔科瓦多山主体是花岗岩，在它的山顶上，基督救世主雕像伸出热情的双臂，欢迎游客来到桑巴之城。

一个多世纪以来，雕像一直是城市的象征。1922年2月，建筑师海托尔•达席尔瓦•科斯塔在竞标中胜出，设计了一个听起来很鲁莽的项目：一尊巨大的耶稣雕像，远看像牙签般纤细，独自在高山上踯躅而行。九年后，雕像落成。

近100年过去了，这座高29.9米、臂展28米的雕像依然屹立不倒，证明了建造者们在工程方面的卓越才能。

里约历史和艺术遗产研究所（IPHAN）主管、建筑师保罗•维达尔说：“巴西的土木工程一直走在世界前列，在钢筋混凝土建筑方面尤其出色。”

虽然基督救世主看起来像一座石雕，但实际上是一座覆盖着皂石片的混凝土建筑。

建这座雕像是为了扭转第一次世界大战后“信仰缺失”的局面，人们希望在里约市的任何地方都能看到耶稣基督像。于是举办了雕像设计竞赛，达席尔瓦•科斯塔胜出。

最初，他设计的雕像是基督在前往髑髅地的路上，背着十字架，另一只手拿着水晶球。

幸运的是，艺术家卡洛斯•奥斯瓦尔德帮他修改了方案，采用流线型的现代主义设计，基督伸出的双臂不仅构成了十字架的形状，还仿佛拥抱着脚下的城市。最终的设计由法籍波兰雕塑家保罗•兰多斯基共同完成，进一步简化了外观，使其符合当时流行的装饰艺术风格。

在山顶上建造这样巨大的建筑非常困难。维达尔说：“最大的挑战是：设计要能经受住天气的考验。”他补充说，科尔科瓦多山顶常常暴露在恶劣的天气条件下。

里约的建筑师们对混凝土早已驾轻就熟 —— 1929年落成的A Noite大厦（一家当地报纸的总部）当时是拉丁美洲最高的建筑。达席尔瓦•科斯塔和他的团队在这些建筑经验的基础上建造了基督像，在混凝土主体外面包覆了皂石，这种材料是绝缘体。在巴西东南部的米纳斯吉拉斯州，皂石传统上被用作煮饭的锅。这种材料很坚硬，一个世纪过去了，包裹层依然完好。

设计团队采用了马赛克拼嵌效果 —— 远处也许看不清楚，但来到雕像跟前的朝圣者可以欣赏细节 —— 雕像上一共拼嵌了约600万块皂石贴片。(Translated by Debra)