Maria Pace Chiavari
The Antonio Jannuzzi, Irmão & Cia. company and its development
The appreciation and respect prompted today by the many works produced by Antonio Jannuzzi during his brilliant career are due to the important contributions made by his constantly-renewed firm to the modernization of the Brazilian capital. Together with innovations in the construction field, this Italian builder was endowed with a noteworthy ability to introduce new habits inherent to different ways of living, which helped transform the society anchored in the past.
The driving force behind this interconnected path coincides with the route that he himself followed after arriving in Rio de Janeiro in 1873. Trained in the building trade by his father in Fuscaldo, he learned the basics of design in the art studio of painter Giovanni Battista Santoro. Equipped with this expertise, he arrived in the New World as a worksite manager.25 His portfolio expanded rapidly in Rio de Janeiro, through the many projects that he implemented, and others handled through partnerships with engineers and architects. This hands-on experience was completed by a broad repertoire learned from catalogs, magazines and handbooks. With no academic qualifications, Jannuzzi worked with architecture, as part of the expanding group of self-taught architects working the construction sector at that time. 26
A year after his arrival in Rio, a proposed contract with engineer Candido de Oliveira encouraged him to set up his own business. His younger brother Giuseppe moved from Montevideo to join this project.
Initially called Sociedade Antonio Jannuzzi & Irmão, the firm started work on building the Paula Machado viaduct in the Santa Teresa district. In 1877, the same engineer hired the company again to build the funicular tramway in this district. Easier access to the steep alleyways of Santa Teresa opened up opportunities for the business to work in the housing sector. Some of the commissioned homes were soon occupied by immigrants from Calabria – homeland of the Jannuzzi family. This living history is still apparent today, with some descendants of these original families living in these homes. This is why Santa Teresa has been called the ‘Calabrians’ district’ since then. Constructions dating back to those times include a building in the Rua Monte Alegre that Antonio Jannuzzi designed as his family home, during the first decade of the XX century.
Incoming waves of Calabrian immigrants arriving in Rio de Janeiro might well be explained by the policy pursued by the Jannuzzi company. Nine years after it was incorporated in 1884, a significant increase in its registered capital27 reflected commissions for increasingly sophisticated projects. The main curb on responding to these demands was the non-outdated construction system used in Rio. The solution was to encourage immigration among highly skilled stoneworkers and masons in Italy, specializing in the sector. This enthusiasm for immigration encompassed the Jannuzzi family as well, with three more brothers arriving from Italy: first Francesco and Camillo, followed by the youngest, Michelangelo.
With the introduction of these new partners, the company was structured as a family business, aligned with the old Italian tradition followed by Santiago Gianelli when sharing out of the management of the mills. As the first-born and head of the family, Antonio was the president, director and entrepreneur. His siblings share out the other sectors, according to their specialized expertise. Together with the company name, its new visiting card mentioned what made it stand out in comparison to its competitors: the quality of its work and materials. These are the main elements in the formula that kept the company competitive.
In order to keep its standards high, most of the materials used were shipped from Europe, with even the cement being imported by sea. When building the Moinho Fluminense complex, its metal beams and columns, as well as the skyway arches and grids were brought in from the UK. In order to attain the desired quality and lower its cost, the company became increasingly more entrepreneurial, setting up its own workshops to produce and handle the materials, as announced in advertisements published in magazines and newspapers.28 The ability of this Italian builder to manage the firm may be assessed through the episode when he left the Port of Rio de Janeiro aboard the Iris, a ship in the Lloyd Brasileiro fleet. With him was a team of four hundred people, including engineers, architects, spectators, craftsmen and workers, in addition to construction materials.29 Their destination was Manaus, the Amazonas State capital, whose Governor José Ramalho had commissioned the construction of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia hospital. In addition to the adventurous spirit of its founder, this story once again confirms that the main asset of the company and the reason behind its success: its workforce, selected and trained by Antonio Jannuzzi.
With construction of the Moinho Fluminense complex completed, its success attracted new building projects and old palace renovations in areas around the city of Rio de Janeiro. These included the mansion of the Baron das Duas Barras in Nova Friburgo, and the Palácio Rio Negro in Petrópolis.30
Every project design submitted for work licenses by Jannuzzi companies bore the signature of its director, as a ‘licensed builder’. 31 On social occasions, he usually introduced himself cordially as an ‘architect builder’. His official membership of the Engineering Club can be ascertained in 1883, four years before he signed the design for the Moinho Fluminense complex. On this document, his name is accompanied by that of Adolpho Del Vecchio, who sponsored Jannuzzi as a member of this Club, ensuring his acceptance as a full member with the title of ‘engineer architect’, residing at Rua Monte Alegre 482. There was reciprocal admiration between Del Vecchio and Jannuzzi, both of Italian origin and interested in construction materials, used by Jannuzzi in his many buildings. This topic was addressed by Del Vecchio in a lecture published in the Revista do Clube de Engenharia journal in 1887.