The campus and its history

The plain where the University City "Zeferino Vaz" is located, the name given to the Unicamp campus in Campinas, was part of the Rio das Pedras farm. Property of João Adhemar de Almeida Prado, it was 'sold' for the symbolic amount of one cruise. Almeida Prado received this amount from President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco.

The campus is named after its founder and creator, Professor Zeferino Vaz, who died in 1981. It was he who guided the preparation of the university's master plan so that its "physical and urban layout represented the best possible relationship between the concept and philosophy of the University, its academic and research objectives, the character and limitations of the terrain, and the necessary stages of growth.” The intention was, in fact, to combine the philosophy of the university that was intended to be implemented with its territorial implantation.

This is how other previous proposals to donate land in the vicinity of Campinas were rejected. Not only were the infrastructure aspects studied, but the perspective of the city's urban evolution was also considered, considering the location of industries and the possibilities of access to the university. Access could not just happen through the city center: it would be essential to use the region's highways to facilitate the arrival of people from other cities.

The possibility of strategic construction of research buildings also influenced the choice, considering the development of activities that went beyond undergraduate activities, which guides the majority of building construction projects for universities. Unicamp should be a matrix that generates teachers and research for the country, focused on research and postgraduate studies. This condition was decisive for the three areas of knowledge to be allocated into three large sectors: exact sciences, biological sciences and humanities.

These sectors would have connections to extensions such as the Clinical Hospital, Technology Center, Life Center, etc. The beginning of implementation, however, required territorial occupation with flexibility to allow the expansion of research areas in response to the demand for new activities.

The first building constructed was the Institute of Biology, in 1968. Today, the campus area reaches almost three million square meters and is full of buildings surrounded by parks and lawns. The initial plan underwent changes and adaptations due to the new requirements that occurred due to the development of the University.

Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, president of Brazil, signing the Act of Laying the Foundation Stone of the University of Campinas. Campinas, October 05, 1966. Historical Collection of the Central Archive/Siarq.