A experiência estética na cidade e as ações de micropolítica na renovação urbana do patrimônio cultural da Rua Sapucaí, em Belo Horizonte

Abstract

This study proposes a reflection on the aesthetic experience in cities, especially in places of abandonment. For this purpose, potential inscriptions that such spaces evoke in the relations that individuals establish with the city itself through small ruptures in the political and management system in effect are investigated. In particular, one of the innumerable areas of abandonment that characterizes Belo Horizontes urban diversity was chosen, which has undergone major transformations during the last decade due to a process of resumption of its use. These actions came from the community itself, having as initial push arbitrary measures taken during the requalification of the Station Square. The chosen area corresponds to Sapucaí Street, located in the Floresta neighborhood, in the surroundings of the citys hypercenter, whose history is intertwined with the beginning of the capital's history. For more than twenty years, the buildings on this street had been abandoned and left with little or no use, which has been gradually modified due to a recent resumption of use. Through micropolitical actions of some of the city's collectives, several urban interventions were carried out, at first in the street itself, drawing attention to the urban landscape with temporary activities of occupation and leisure. Subsequently, the buildings achieved new commercial uses and services, without being retrofitted. Thus, it was verified that the aesthetic experience of a particular space in a state of abandonment allows new experiments. Sapucaí Street, which is located in a topographically higher area, also functions as a viewpoint for the urban panorama of the city center. Based on that, the Cura Project was implemented, which transforms several sidewalls of the oldest buildings of downtown Belo Horizonte. These buildings can be seen together from this lookout point, bringing street and city together and providing a unique experience to the observer. Finally, Sapucaí was also chosen because it belongs to the Urban Set of the Floresta neighborhood and its surroundings, which was heritage listed at the municipal level in the late 1990s. This set remained in a state of neglect for decades, but it has been gradually gaining new cultural, symbolic and economic relevance in the urban context. The core of the reflection presented in this study revolves around the idea that spaces of abandonment, when experienced aesthetically, can provide the individual with conditions to politically inhabit the city. Hence, this work seeks to interweave aesthetic experience, spaces of abandonment and biopolitics.