Habitação unifamiliar: memória, patrimônio e cidade – a região do Alto dos Passos em Juiz de Fora/MG

Abstract

The acknowledgement of the heritage in Juiz de Fora, initiated by the municipal government in the early 1980s, had as one of its mainstays the single family houses of the Alto dos Passos region. However, little attention was given in the local level research to how these buildings were elevated to the category of municipal heritage. The often called "grand houses" were built in the current Baron of Rio Branco Avenue between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. These are buildings erected by the wealthiest segments of Juiz de Fora’s society, especially owners of coffee farms and local industrialists. In the early 80s the experts in the field were the ones who said what was and what was not heritage, almost always electing the buildings constructed by the elites. Thus, the main objective of this work is to identify how the heritage agents in Juiz de Fora converted on municipal heritage some single family houses of the Alto dos Passos region. Based on the speeches elaborated by these agents wich are present both in publications on the topic as in preservation’s lawsuits of this buildings, we propose to investigate how part of Juiz de Fora’s heritage was built, using the current heritage, history and speech theory. The demonstrations present on preservation’s lawsuits appear as a unique opportunity to identify how those involved agents resort to discursive modes in order to achieve their respective goals. The study of agents that influenced the city's development process demonstrates both the complexity of the relationships that exist between the built environment and the social, economic, cultural and political context that allows decision-making on urban space, as also reveals an idea of the city that individuals want to build, remember or forget.