UNESP
MONUMENT
BOTUCATU - SP
Project specifications
Project beginning - 2015
Launching - 2016
Team
Authors - Fernando Forte, Lourenço Gimenes, Rodrigo Marcondes Ferraz
Coordinators - Gabriel Mota, Luciana Bacin, Sonia Gouveia
Contributors - Carla Facchini, Caroline Endo, Rodrigo de Moura, Tatiane Garcia
Interns: Otávio Araújo

Photographer - Rafaela Netto
Construction: RKM Construções
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of FCA – the School of Agricultural Sciences at UNESP – we were invited to design two monuments for the Botucatu campus, a new challenge that the FGMF team embraced with great enthusiasm.
The first monument, located at the roundabout by the current entrance to the school, pays tribute to the 20 students whose perseverance led to the establishment of the school in 1965. The homage to these pioneers is simple yet striking. Twenty white steel tubes, each 12 meters high, will be installed vertically on a bed of large stones. Strategically positioned within the 60-meter-diameter traffic island, they are visible both to visitors entering through the gate and to those traveling along the campus’s main avenue.
During the day, the slender silhouette of each tube forms part of a three-dimensional composition whose density changes according to the viewer’s angle, evoking the movement of the students on their journey. Each tube represents one pioneer and, although it belongs to a cohesive and united group, retains its own identity. Thus, while honoring the group as a whole, the monument also celebrates each individual through 20 distinct perforation patterns incorporated into the tubes.
At night, illuminated from within, the tubes themselves recede into the darkness while the perforations come to life as light filters through them, creating a luminous mist that marks the path of the students who followed in their footsteps. This transformation between day and night symbolizes both the changes imposed by time and the transformative power of education.
The second monument serves as the official commemorative landmark for the school’s 50th anniversary. Like the first, it is located at the first roundabout of the new entrance, currently under construction. Three inclined solid planes represent the three degree programs offered by FCA: Agronomy, Forestry Engineering, and Bioprocess and Biotechnology Engineering. With slightly different dimensions and angles, they also express the relationship between the collective and the individual.
The materials likewise differ: the central concrete plane represents Agronomy, the school’s first degree program; the black slate plane represents Forestry Engineering; and the corten steel plane represents Bioprocess and Biotechnology Engineering. All are mineral materials extracted from the earth—the very raw material that forms the foundation of FCA and its core element. The choice of materials also reflects durability, as each is long-lasting and requires minimal maintenance over time.
The monument’s placement within the central island ensures equal visibility for those entering and leaving the campus. Viewed from the entrance, the planes point downward, descending from the air into the ground, symbolizing the depth of knowledge generated here and the immersion into an environment of study and research. Viewed from within the campus, however, the monument appears to rise from the earth and soar toward the sky, representing the achievement, growth, and upward journey made possible through education.