Villa Sanhauá in João Pessoa (PB, Brazil)

Case study for the requalification of historic centers in Latin America

Abstract

Intervening in historic centers has always proved to be a complex challenge, as several social and economic factors affect, in addition to the complexity of urban requalification of areas consolidated in the project's result.

The Northeast region of Brazil, the cradle of Portuguese colonization in the Americas and the main locus of the few cities built in the period, currently has the background of the remodeling of its historic centers to enhance leisure, tourism, trade / services and lastly dwellings. This picture is the result of the modernizing transformations that took place since the 20th century, where the introduction of new standardized constructions and that, therefore, do not respect the locality and the large investment in traffic infrastructure has mischaracterized them, driving away the original residents and draining their “historicity”, identity and belonging.The theme proposed for this article will assess through technical visits and the analysis of the project carried out the occupation of historic buildings in the center of the city of João Pessoa, more precisely the newly Villa Sanhauá inaugurated - intervention by the city hall in eight ruined mansions located on Street João Suassuna, in the Varadouro inserted in the lower city, beginning of the Portuguese occupation in the region. Two analysis matrixes will take place with emphasis: the verification of a project in line with the urban requalification of the neighborhood, investigating the occurrence of the preservation of the cultural values of the nearby population and the architectural solutions that affected the technical and economic viability of the project in order to reinsert housing and shops to new residents and, thus, revitalize the center currently abandoned and disqualified.