 |
| Santos=Dumont's office in his apartment on the Champs-Élysées rendered from photos of the time, superimposed on current ones |
It was at number 114 on the Champs-Élysées that Santos=Dumont invented the greatest number of aerial machines - innovation continues at this address with the Apple store (a full plate for those who credit him as a creative egregore).
Much can be said when analyzing the photos of Santos=Dumont's apartment at the time.
 |
| Dining Room in the Sky circa 2020 - Apple store |
Santos=Dumont's life could have been better documented, were it not for the episode in which Santos sets fire to several documents, in the backyard of his house in Benérville, in August 1914, when gendarmerrie agents suspected that he might be a spy of war (learn more)
 |
| Luiz Pagano at Avenida Champs Elysées, 114, on the corner of Rue Washington, Santos Dumont's address in Paris |
You that are reading this article may have already noticed that much of the information we see in biographies seems to be repeated from book to book, with a lot of data about some events and, on the other hand, huge gaps, of up to decades, with lost events.
 |
| Description of the environments at the time when Santos=Dumont lived in the apartment, we can see the "roundabout" oval room, the office next to the facades of Rue Washington and Champs Élysees and, in the background, the staff and guest room, kitchen and bathrooms. |
One can compensate for some of these losses simply by analyzing the various photographs, especially those taken in his apartment on Rue Washington.
In the photos of the time, we see basically four environments:
1 - Rotunda or Oval Room: This is a central and prominent space in the apartment. The oval shape provides a sense of fluidity and elegance to the environment. Possibly the oval hall was used to receive guests and hold meetings. With its unique shape, it sings with sophisticated furniture carefully to suit the room's aesthetic and purpose;
 |
| 2- The Office of Santos=Dumont, photo overlooking the shelf, detail for the large amount of paper on the table, among them journalistic articles, flight photos, envelope cutting templates and models of nacelles for his airships, etc. |
 |
| Santos=Dumont's office front photo - S=D evaluates a metal piece, details to be observed: wallpaper with an owl motif, the radica table, lamp and art nouveau frame |
 |
| S=D analyzing a project in the office next to a model, moments before going to engineering. |
2 - Office: In the office, Santos=Dumont dedicated most of his time to reflection and planning. The bookcase suggests that this was a space where he studied and did research. It may have contained books on aviation, science and technology, reflecting Santos=Dumont's intellectual and creative interests;
3 - Engineering: The engineering room was a place of action and experimentation. It was where he began to turn his ideas and projects into reality.
 |
| Santos=Dumont's third room would be the equivalent of engineering. Place where he designs the technical part of his aircraft, maintains ropes, cables and fuel, spare parts, as well as builds and makes his models. |
Gym equipment, including the rowing machine and weights, suggest that he also valued physical health.
The presence of an engine and battery above the fireplace indicates Dumont's continued focus on innovation and technology;
4 - Dining Room in the Heights: This unique space is where Dumont enjoyed his meals, the billiard table adds a touch of entertainment and relaxation to the room;
 |
| 4 - Dining Room in the Heights, circa 1904 |
These four environments combined offered Santos=Dumont a versatile environment that reflected his multifaceted interests, his creativity and his quest for innovation both in aviation and in other aspects of his life.
 |
| Santos=Dumont's office in his apartment on the Champs-Élysées |
On the wall of one of the rooms, there is a picture behind a table, for example, with stars nailed to the frame that showed one of the pyramids of Egypt and a people riding camels.
 |
| Santos=Dumont & o enigma da pirâmide de Gizé, no Egito |
Who would those be?
To try to solve this charade, I analyze another photo of Santos=Dumont in Egypt, from a trip we know almost nothing about. In it seem to be Santos=Dumont, someone who looks a lot like Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe, Mr Henrique Dumont (except that the dates don't match as he died in 1891) or even the tutor/protector Garcia.
On page 230 of the biography Santos=Dumont e a conquista do ar (Santos=Dumont and the conquest of the air) by Aluizio Napoleão (1941) appears one of the few references to him in North Africa “Santos Dumont was beginning to get tired of life, Paris betrayed him.
In vain he crossed the Mediterranean, traveled through North Africa and had his portrait in Tunis, dressed as a sheikh, by Albert, Rue Diazira "photographe de Son Altesse, le Bey". In vain he played in car racing, in engine handling. Interviews with journalists were becoming rare. He was undoubtedly "a character en vedette. But he was not "the" character en vedette.
 |
| 19th century photograph: Egypt circa 1880 - Pyramid of Cheops, Giza, Egypt, 1890 photo by Lekegian studio. |
As for the photo of the pyramid in the background, behind Dumont, there was no one known from S=D there, it is a photograph from the 19th century: Egypt around 1880 - Pyramid of Cheops, Giza, Egypt, photo from 1890 by the Lekegian studio.
Whose picture is on the desk?
In 1917, the New York Journal's European correspondent sent a note about Santos=Dumont's engagement to Miss Edna Powers. Edna was an American who lived in Paris with her parents. The text is in the Aerospace Museum of Rio de Janerio.
 |
| Aida d'Acosta, Edna Powers or another woman? - According to the newspaper República, it was Edna Power - but in the close-up photo you can read the dedication in English "To Santos = Dumont", something illegible, and the signature, which can be either Edna or Lurline (depending on how you analyze it the graphology of the "E" or "L"). |
Or it could also be Aida d'Acosta, the first woman to fly a blimp through the French skies (in the world)
But according to S=D, he was already married to his aircraft family.
Edna or Lurline
Who else should have had the photo on Santos=Dumont's desk was the American millionaire Lurline Spreckels, according to biographer Cosme Degenar.
 |
| Santos=dumont and Lurline Spreckels |
Dumont was engaged to her until her mother forbade the engagement, believing Dumont to be a dowries hunter.
 |
| Other photos that belonged to Santos=Dumont with Lurline Spreckels |
On December 21, the Republic newspaper, from Saint Louis, in the United States, informs that “the king of the air is going to marry a beautiful Yankee”. it was not Lurline Spreckels, but another American, Edna Power. The article says that Santos=Dumont's fiancée belonged to the American colony in Paris and “lost her heart” for him when she heard him recount the adventures of his escapes. “And he, in his loneliness away from his Brazilian home, lost his heart to her because she was brilliant, understanding and ingratiating.”
 |
| On December 21, the Saint Louis newspaper Republic reported that Santos=Dumont was going to marry Edna Power. |
Coincidence or not, Santos=Dumont writes two days later, on December 23, 1901, a letter to his Brazilian friend Pedro Guimarães in which he mentions being in a dilemma – loving and selfish, financially speaking. He does not mention Edna Powers by her name, but refers to "darling".
A short distance away, on a black plinth more than a meter long, was a white marble bust of Victor Hugo, the aeronaut is known to have had great admiration for the poet of the Chansons des rues et des bois. In fact, the two had many affinities: they were dreamers, visionaries and possessed of a fertile and powerful imagination.
In October 1901, the Brazilian colony in France, presented S=D with a replica of the statue of Jean-Antoine Injalbert (1845–1933), "La Renommée" (the fame), replicated by the talented artist Thiebaud, leaning against the mirror.
In this photo we see the large windows with balconies overlooking the Champs-Élysées, one of which has a well-known photo in which S=D explains the operation of the balloon with guide rope to his brother-in-law, Mr. Carlos de andrade Villares, married to Gabriela.
The Various Environments of the Noble Address
 |
| On the corner of Champs-Élysées and Rue Washington lived Santos=Dumont, who made the feat of parking the Dirigeable #9 to have a coffee, Luiz Pagano had dinner with fans of this blog at Le Mood in 2014 and is currently the Apple Store in Paris |
The noble address on the corner of Champs-Élysées and Rue Washington, has already had several opportunities to be visited, whether by the 2010 ballad 'Le Mood'.
 |
| These are the various tenants of the famous property, Le Mood from 1913, the Apple store and in the days of Dumont |
But nothing makes more sense than Santos=Dumont's great expression of genius in giving way to the also innovative Apple store.
 |
| For those who believe in creative egregore, perhaps this is the most iconic place in the world! - It was on this table that in 1910 Santos Dumont created his wonderful inventions of air navigation, taking great steps to bring flight to humanity, opening up perspectives of integration and entertainment never seen before. In 2018, Steve Jobs' Apple brings the coolest and most fun innovations the world has ever seen to the same place. There's no denying that big innovations seem to haunt the iconic apartment 114 Champs-Élysées |
Elegance that comes in generations - the Apple Watch is inspired by Cartier Santos
Perhaps the choice of Santos=Dumont's apartment in Paris to be the location of the Apple store was not coincidental, Johnny Ive, Apple's head of design, said that when details of the Apple Watch development process were emerging, Marc Newson, who had recently joined Ive's team at Apple, was greatly inspired by the vintage Cartier Santos wristwatch.
 |
| Apple Watch inspired by Cartier Santos |
Like the Apple Watch, the IkePod also adopted Cartier's classic square dial Santos, Ive also revealed that the Apple Watch was positioned as a premium smartwatch that would compete with a Rolex, Cartier or Omega.
The Apple Watch uses extremely premium materials, similar to Rolex watches, but has been positioned at a lower price point than these high-end luxury items.
Ive, like Santos=Dumont is a car enthusiast, owned a Bentley Mulsanne and an Aston Martin DB4.
Watches
 |
| João Villares, great-nephew of Santos Dumont, holds a watch that belonged to his relative Alberto Santos=Dumont. An interesting curiosity is that João keeps on the dial 16:45, the time when the aviator took off on November 12, 1906, at Campo de Bagatelle, in Paris - picture Rubens Cavallari |
Room 4 - Engineering
|
| Santos=Dumont's fourth room would be the equivalent of engineering. Place where he designs the technical part of his aircraft, maintains ropes, cables and fuel, spare parts, as well as builds and makes his models. |
Sources and Bibliographies
- GRAHAL, Étude historique et documentaire, 2015.
- Pascal Payen-Appenzeller et Brice Payen, Champs-Élysées: Dictionnaire historique, architectural et culturel, Paris, Ledico éditions, 2013.
The plenary session of the Old Paris Commission met on June 24, 2016 at the Hôtel de Ville under the chairmanship of Mr. Bernard Gaudillère, Councilor of Paris.
The resolutions taken by the Commission were published in BMO No. 58 of July 22, 2016.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário