From Brasília to Betim

FROM BRASÍLIA TO BETIM

Brasília may be considered one of the most ambitious undertakings in Brazil’s territorial integration. Marcel Gautherot’s photographs capture the early days of the new capital, as it became the central hub of a highway network designed to connect distant regions. In this context, the automobile ceased to be merely a means of transportation and acquired both symbolic and material significance in the making of the nation. The skid mark, as seen in Regina Silveira’s work, emerges as a historical trace, graphically synthesizing the modern impulse of that period. It is no coincidence that one of the highlights of Brasília’s inauguration in 1960 was a high-speed car race.

The new capital, however, was not an isolated episode. The establishment of the automotive industry in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte reflected a commitment to creating new industrial hubs. For Minas Gerais, Fiat’s factory in Betim, inaugurated in July 1976, meant the expansion of the state’s industrial base and its entry into the production of entry-level cars. Studio Cerri documents both the construction of the factory and the birth of the Fiat 147, the first model produced in Brazil. While Gautherot reveals the monumentality of Brasília and the vastness of a territory yet to be occupied, Cerri shifts the focus to the productive dimension of this process.

At the center of the room, the scale model of the Lingotto factory, with its iconic rooftop test track, connects these stories. From Brasília to Betim, from Italy to Brazil, the street, industry, and the automobile form part of the same journey. A once-imagined space was beginning to assert itself as a country in motion.

THE REINVENTION OF THE MODERN FACTORY

The Lingotto industrial building in Italy, designed by the Italian architect and engineer Giacomo Matté-Trucco (1869–1934), was inaugurated in 1923. It marked the transformation of Fiat’s Turin factory from an artisanal workshop into a modern automotive manufacturing facility. Its production model followed the Fordist assembly-line system, in which each stage was rationally coordinated to form a complete production cycle. The production flow advanced from the ground floor upward: the chassis, engine, and body were brought together on the top floor for assembly, followed by testing on the iconic rooftop test track.

Maquete da fábrica da Fiat em Turim (Scale Model of Fiat’s Turin Factory)
2026 | Produced by Carolina Marini

ARTWORKS

Derrapagem, Série Octopus (Skidding, Octopus Series)
Regina Silveira, 2004–2026
Wood and vinyl on wall
Artist’s Collection

PHOTOS

Edifício do Congresso Nacional em construção / Construção de Brasília
(National Congress Building Under Construction / Construction of Brasília)
Marcel Gautherot, 1959
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

Ministérios em construção / Esplanada dos Ministérios em construção
(Ministries Under Construction / Ministries Esplanade Under Construction)
Marcel Gautherot, 1959
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

Congresso Nacional (National Congress)
Marcel Gautherot, 1959
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

“O Meteoro”, escultura de Bruno Giorgi / “Os Candangos” ou “Os Guerreiros”, escultura de Bruno Giorgi
(“The Meteor”, sculpture by Bruno Giorgi / “The Candangos” or “The Warriors”, sculpture by Bruno Giorgi)
Marcel Gautherot, 1960
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

Visitas presidenciais / Sem título
(Presidential Visits / Untitled)
Marcel Gautherot / Thomaz Farkas, 1958–1960
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

Giovanni Agnelli, presidente da Fiat S.p.A. [à direita], Rondon Pacheco, governador de Minas Gerais, Sergio Palmucci, diretor-geral adjunto da Fiat, e comitiva visitam o canteiro de obras da fábrica da Fiat em Betim
(Giovanni Agnelli, President of Fiat S.p.A. [right], Rondon Pacheco, Governor of Minas Gerais, Sergio Palmucci, Deputy General Manager of Fiat, and their delegation visit the construction site of the Fiat plant in Betim)
Studio Cerri, 1973
Photographic reproduction
Instituto Moreira Salles Collection

Ex-presidente Juscelino Kubitschek durante visita à fábrica da Fiat em Betim
(Former President Juscelino Kubitschek during a visit to the Fiat plant in Betim)
Studio Cerri, 1976
Photographic reproduction
Credit: Studio Cerri

Série de fotos da construção da fábrica da Fiat em Betim
(Construction of the Fiat plant in Betim)
Studio Cerri, 1975
Photographic reproduction
Credit: Studio Cerri

Funcionários da fábrica da Fiat nos primeiros anos de produção do Fiat 147 e, posteriormente, do Uno
(Employees of the Fiat plant during the early years of Fiat 147 production and, later, of the Uno)
Studio Cerri, 1970s–1980s
Photographic reproduction
Credit: Studio Cerri