Maria Pace Chiavari
Changes along the way
As Brazil shifted from Empire to Republic, looming uncertainties prompted the Jannuzzi brothers to explore new paths in 1889. Having taken a brave (and perhaps foolhardy) decision to shut down the Antonio Jannuzzi & Irmão company, much of its capital was invested in the newly-established Companhia Evoneas Fluminense.32 This sudden decision might well have been prompted by government tax incentives for worker housing construction. This topic soon caught the enthusiastic attention of Antonio Jannuzzi, who quickly drew up designs and explored the problem of worker housing in Rio de Janeiro.33 Articles and even a book that he wrote are still extant, urging the construction of homes for workers, like the houses built for this purpose in the Botafogo and Tijuca districts.34 However, this enthusiasm was short-lived. The concession was cancelled in 1892, due to the crisis triggered by the Encilhamento funding loan scandal, and the new business failed to survive.
However, courage in the face of adversity was not lacking in the Jannuzzi family, and the company was soon reopened under the name of Antonio Jannuzzi, Irmão & Cia. The start-over of its activities began in 1895, restructuring the elegant home of Count Modesto Leal on the Rua das Laranjeiras, for whom the company had designed a shed in the Santo Cristo district. But the real turn-around for the company came with the General Italian Exhibition in Turin, in 1898, featuring a hundred photographs of its best works. These included the Moinho Fluminense complex. Welcoming a visit from Italy’s King Umberto I and Brazilian President Campos Salles, this Italian-Brazilian enterprise was awarded a gold medal “an acknowledgement of the amazing work of Italians abroad”.35 The company was once again honored in Italy at the Milan International Exhibition.36