Thus, an ambitious plan was drawn up: to revive the fleet until it reached the sea in Santos and to build for São Paulo a station that would reflect its grandeur and celebrate the new days ahead. This led to the birth, in 1925, of the project for this building, designed by architect Cristiano Stockler das Neves. The construction, completed only in 1929, already amidst the decline of coffee exports, the driving force of São Paulo’s economy at the time, also faced the crisis in the railway system itself, which was losing ground to the enthusiasm surrounding the burgeoning automotive industry in Brazil.
There, where the city’s heartbeat echoed strongest, the imposing building withstood decay. Once the protagonist of the relentless desire to come and go, its worn walls continued, however, to carry the traces of an era when the stories and destinies of travelers from far and wide converged. In the past, hundreds of people flowed toward the station, waiting in the open garden of imperial palms or in the concourse, a hall whose stained-glass windows immortalized the wealth and dynamism of the coffee era and the grand construction of the railway. To the left, the railway tracks unfolded, marking the rhythm of progress that shaped the state between the 1920s and 1930s. In the center, the strength of São Paulo’s industry reflected the vitality that propelled the land. To the right, commerce, with coffee as its main symbol. In the background, the stained-glass windows celebrated the São Paulo railway, which connected the interior to the coast, weaving the story of an era.
No one knew that the Station, with its forgotten footsteps and distant echoes, awaited more journeys than those of its once hurried passengers.
The CCR Arts Station — part of the Júlio Prestes Cultural Complex — is managed by the Osesp Foundation, a social cultural organization that holds a management contract with the Government of the State of São Paulo, through the Secretariat of Culture, Economy, and Creative Industries of the State of São Paulo.
The transformation of this historical heritage into a performance space was made possible through the partnership between the Osesp Foundation and the Government of the State of São Paulo, through the Secretariat of Culture, Economy, and Creative Industries, and the Ministry of Culture, through the Federal Law of Incentive to Culture. Maintenance for the next three years is supported by the institutional sponsorship of the CCR Group, also through the Federal Law of Incentive to Culture.