O terroir da arquitetura modernista mineira: reprodutibilidade e apropriação popular de traços e formas em Belo Horizonte

Abstract

The historiography of Brazilian modern architecture has traditionally privileged the productions and architects of the Rio-São Paulo axis. This focus consolidated a national canon that, while popularizing hegemonic narratives, revealed the need to transcend such limits for a more critical and comprehensive understanding of the period. Departing from this observation and the scarce visibility given to the architectural production from Minas Gerais, this thesis is dedicated to investigating modern architecture in Minas Gerais between 1930 and 1960. It takes as its analytical starting point the national landmark represented by the Conjunto Moderno da Pampulha in Belo Horizonte, a seminal work by Oscar Niemeyer where the plastic vocabulary of his production was consolidated. The central objective of this study is to understand how the formal elements of modernist architecture, enshrined in works of great relevance such as Pampulha, were appropriated, assimilated, and reinterpreted by ordinary citizens in the construction of their homes. To this end, the research seeks to inscribe this specific chapter of Minas Gerais architecture into academic annals by analyzing residential projects carried out in the Western region of Belo Horizonte. The investigation employs an interpretative perspective of local knowledge, associated with a phenomenological conception of perception, to examine how the modernist language, integrated into the imagination of Belo Horizonte's residents and inspired by renowned architects, was reproduced and re-signified at the scale of the dwelling.