Brazil's entry was crowned with an immense dome, rising 132 feet above the ground, and was one of the largest of the international nations. The building was southwest corner of the foreign government section, flanked on the east and west by well-groomed flower gardens and faced the Belgian and Cuban pavilions on the north and the Nicaraguan building on the east.
Three domes showed above the roof line at the top of the second story, the center one of which rose 78 feet from the roof. The side domes were flat and were only about 20 feet above the roof; beneath them were loggias, open to the air. The building's front and back was supported by 36 Corinthian columns were ornamented only at the lower third of the shaft with the Brazilian coat of arms between floral festoons.. In between each, was a coat of arms for each of the 20 states that made up Brazil. The building cost 135,000 and was dedicated on May 24.
Colonel F. M. de Souza Aguiar, who, besides being the Commissioner-general for Brazil, was the architect and designer of the edifice. The building sported large lawns with beds of shrubbery and roses being on the east and west sides of the pavilion, and two main Exposition driveways passed the west and south doors.
The pavilion, which was in the French Renaissance style, is 191 x 132 feet in dimensions, had two floors, the first a spacious room where an exhibit of coffee was displayed, which included growing coffee trees, coffee in the hull, and an immense imported coffee huller.
While the apex of the central dome attained a height of 135 feet, it was octagonal in shape, having at each corner an exterior buttress, and was adorned with a large statue of an angel at its top. Around the base of this dome is a spacious gallery that overlooks a large settee, octagonal in shape, that occupies the center of the room, and mounted on a pedestal rising from the center of this settee is a beautiful statue, life size, in white marble, entitled "The Feast." This statue is a veritable work of art, executed by the celebrated Italian sculptor, R. Bartoletti, at the Bazzabtt gallery of Florence. Encircling this large dome was a gallery from which can be viewed the greater part of the Exposition grounds and the surrounding country. Above the cornice of the building was a balustrade, decorated with shields, showed the coats-of-arms of the twenty-one States which comprises the republic of Brazil.
The Brazilian pavilion was considered the most beautiful by many.
The ceiling of the first floor, which had deep panels, was supported by large Doric columns, thirty-two in number; these columns being set in the corner, wide doors opened on either side to the east and west loggias, circular in shape and 44 feet in diameter, the roof being supported at a height of eighty feet by eight Corinthian columns. Guests were invited to rest on these loggias and there complete their inspection of the pavilion with a cup of coffee served in true Brazilian style.
A double stairway lead to the reception rooms above. On the second floor were Doric columns that sustained the ceiling, which is paneled like that of the lower floor. From the large and ample number of windows, openings on all sides, splendid views were to be had of the west section of the Exposition grounds. The main reception room was elegantly furnished with massive mahogany chairs, divans, tables, and beautiful jardiniers in which luxurious growing palms impart color and variety to the expansive hall. The floor was laid with a rich, dark green carpet woven in a single piece, and the windows were hung with heavy tapestry of a corresponding color lined with golden yellow.
A ladies' reception room, presided over by Colonel Aguiar's wife and two beautiful and highly educated daughters, were in the northwest corner of the second floor, the furnishings of which were of lighter designs and color. Adjoining the ladies' room was the office of Commissioner-General Aguiar, next to which was a large room for the use of the other Brazilian commissioners, viz.: Dr. A. da Graca Couto, Mr. J. Americo dos Santos, Mr. A. C. des Santos Pi res, Mr. A. J. da Costa Couto, Mr. F. Ferrier Ramos, Commodore A. Correa, Mr. J. C. Alves de Lima, Mr. J. B. da Motta. The secretary of the commission was Major J. da Cunha Pires.
A glorious illumination of the building at night is accomplished by the use of 1,500 electric lights that are distributed from the top of the dome to the basement, and which serve to make the great pavilion almost as conspicuous for brilliancy as any of the main Exposition palaces.
State apartments occupied the entire lower floor, together with a collection of agricultural products emphasizing coffee.
On the second floor were the offices of the commission. Above this, breaking through
the roof line, was a light well, 42 feet in diameter, which supplied a view of the outside dome. On the third floor, inside the dome, was a gallery from which visitors may have a view of the functions that took place on the second floor. Above this, another gallery surrounded the dome on the outside, and a view is afforded in all directions.
Furnishings made from the hardwoods common to the banks of the Amazon supplied the spacious rooms. Some of the `floral' arrangements were miraculously made out of hummingbird and parrot feathers, beetle wings and fish scales.
Visitors were treated to cups of coffee produced from the far-famed Brazilian product. In fact, organizers have estimated that the country gave away 5,000 free cups of coffee a day in the Palace of Agriculture.
