Estudo sobre o Art Déco em Santa Maria/RS: o caso da Avenida Rio Branco e seu patrimônio edificado

Abstract

This dissertation intends to identify characteristics, elements, formal and composing codes of the Art Déco architecture built in the municipality of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul state, through the study of the buildings in the Rio Branco Avenue, a significant space of the historic district. To embase this work, theoretical references about the culture, representation and imaginary were presented. The contributions include the approach of image, signs and communication concepts which support the acknowledgement of elements in an architecture style. Next, the study focuses on the presentation of the aesthetic origin and its development, from the European and North-American historical context, their influence in Latin America and in the Brazilian and local contexts. Investigation is towards the Art Déco perception as a manifestation linked to the quest for a new architecture, away from the historicist tradition, which is composed by a number of identifiable characters and is globally released with great unity and simultaneity. This step is followed by a situational analysis of the municipality of Santa Maria and development linked to the ferry activity. The adopted methodology started off by the literature review, followed by the research delimitation and reach and its proximity with the study object. Using comparative parameters, it was verified the presence of sixteen samples with meaningful emblems of the style composing the spatiality of the avenue, from the iconographic record. From these, four buildings were elected to be the research object of a complete analysis of all its architectural, spatial and material aspects, and were chosen for their significance, typology and location on the urban block and the presence of use, multifamily residence or mixed uses. The graphic cluster compound done by floor plans, front views and vertical sections, available in the files obtained from public organizations, reveal all aspects of its material and stylistic configurations of this architecture, marking, from the analysis of how the word Déco emerged, the raise of a building heritage register. The investigation is motivated by the need of valuing and preserving the cultural heritage, synonymous of the quest for modernity in the early 20th century at the town. This research intends to understand the reasons why the aesthetic vocabulary has revealed itself so prominently on the city view chosen for the study, to contribute with a panorama on Santa Maria architecture scenery and to conserve its memory and identity. The outcomes may give rise to the extension of this work to other urban areas and to deepen the style investigation related to other uses, spaces, characteristics and development.