John Figueira Jr. Portuguese Museum Plaza Design and Construction Project
Jim Zetterquist introducing
The-Vu Nguyen presented an
John told us a little about himself
John and his proud Essay Summary This is the story of the Portuguese Museum Plaza Design and Construction Project for our legacy to be located in
History Park in San Jose, CA. The Portuguese Heritage Society of California (PHSC) founded and worked diligently
on the Portuguese Museum there. The goal was to help honor and preserve the efforts of the hard working Portuguese
pioneers who had enriched the Santa Clara Valley since the mid 1800's. In 1993, I was selected to be responsible for the design and construction of the plaza that would surround the museum.
I chose, for the plaza center piece, a modified replica of the design at the base of the Monuments of the Discoveries in
Lisbon to anchor the world map I envisioned, one to show all Portugal's colonies during her finest hours.
I accepted this project with great pride. As a former commercial fisherman and member of the U.S. Navy, I was very familiar with the Compass Rose used widely in navigation.
However, the Compass Rose in Lisbon was about 130 feet in diameter, so I would have to simplify the design so that I could represent
all the Portuguese colonies in the center of my 19 foot diameter Compass Rose. Two stone layers were brought in from Terceira, Azores, The stone, Limestone and Basalt, were brought in a container from
Porto De Mós near Leiria, Portugal. The container turned out to be a problem when I arrived at the port of Oakland.
The stone layers took great pride in their workmanship.
I selected the theme "The Portuguese History in Stone", to compliment the Compass Rose, with two caravels, two whales and the
escudo that is the center piece of the Portuguese flag and was the unit of currency prior to 2002. On the six peripheral benches and the two center benches, there were 500 hand painted tiles made by Ramona Fuscue, from the
White Dove Studios in Morgan Hill, CA, consisting of a Portuguese tile design, maps of the former colonies and a poem in both
Portuguese and English and the Portuguese National Anthem in Portuguese and English. My thanks to the many volunteers who made this project a great success and to my fellow students in Ms. Lynn Rogers class
for their support. John G. Figueira Jr. June 1, 2009
Essay Contest winner
John C. Figeuira Jr.
award of Merit to John Figeuira
from Councilman David Cortese's
Office.
and how the Compass Rose
came to Portugal and
San Jose History Park
wife Lorraine Figueira