Santander Cultural

Santander Cultural is the Brazilian cultural center maintained by the Santander Bank in a historic building in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. It is located in Praça da Alfândega. The construction of the building begun in 1927 and was completed in 1931, with an engineering project by Hipólito Fabre, and facades and ornaments designed by Fernando Corona, who also personally sculpted the frontispiece group. Theo Wiederspahn collaborated in the architectural project. The interior was designed by Stephan Sobczak, a Polish architect. The sculptures on the rear facade were executed by Alfredo Staege. The building has approximately 5,600 m² of built area and is listed by the State Historic Patrimony, being part of a precious architectural set of the Center that, with the establishment of the cultural center, gained another great impulse of revitalization. It has an eclectic architecture, with predominance of neoclassical elements. Its plant is rectangular, with five floors plus a basement, and the façades rise on a granite base and are lined with cirex (scraped mass and mica), with exquisite sculptural and ornamental decorations. Its great smooth columns of Corinthian capitals are striking. Inside there is a large central hall lit by a skylight with magnificent stained glass windows of French origin, surrounded by imposing columns and beautiful balustrades. The former building, which was once the seat of the banks of the Province, National Trade, South and Southern Brazilian, and is now managed by Santander, has been restored and adapted to be a modern center of art and culture. The program is punctuated by seminars, debates, lectures and specially organized courses, according to the thematic axes of the main activities. In addition to a confirmed program of music and film. It has a cinema, exhibition space, a coffe shop, Coin Bar and Restaurant, multipurpose rooms, atrium for shows and part of the collection of the former Museum of the Southern Bank (coins, machines, documents).