Social space in the Brazilian thought: Gilberto Freyre

• Grant number: 11/22269-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Recaman Barros
• Grantee: Tarsila Lopes Bianchi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the issues regarding Brazilian social space within the sociologist Gilberto Freyre's (1900-1987) work, notable for its relevance to the study of Brazilian culture and society. It should be noticed that the issues concerning architecture and urbanism are, for this author, inseparable from other forms assumed by culture, and involve the formation and the development of modernity in Brazil. Freyre's ecology indicates that the questions of space are a critical category for the author, albeit indirectly discussed. Thus, this research seeks to understand and characterize the Brazilian social space within Freyre's perspective, to be built from his reflections and analysis as well as the local social environment, and the development and formation of national tropical culture. "Rurbanização", the title of one of his most important books as regards the proposed research, evidences the points from which this work is guided: the dynamics between rural and urban relations which are present in the formation of Brazilian cities. The categories "casa-grande & senzala", "sobrados e mucambos", "brasis, brasil e brasília" (titles of some of his works) will be directing our object of study, while "ordem e progresso", i.e., a more general social and civilizational dimension, will have its special contents disclosed. Therefore, we believe that this research will contribute to cultural, social, architectural, and urban studies in Brazil.(AU)