The opera house of São Paulo in the eighteenth century: construction, uses and a hypothesis of architectural reconstitution

• Grant number: 19/15892-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2019
• End date: March 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Masseran
• Grantee: Lucas de Barros Alencar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes e Comunicação (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Summary There are still many doubts about the initial construction of the old São Paulo Opera House. It is known that it would have been built between 1770 and 1790, but the current historiography, undertaken mainly by chroniclers, is full of disagreements and misunderstandings. Documentary information is not numerous and, although little explored, can lead to some progress. Notable from the contraposition of documents belonging to the Municipal Historical Archive of São Paulo, regarding the correct location of the theater, the land division of the block where it was located and the architectural structure of the building. Thus, the objectives of this research are: the elaboration of a hypothesis of architectural reconstruction of the theater building, according to the researched documentation, its correct location and the unraveling of its main uses during the period of its construction until, at least, at the time of the Proclamation of the Independence of Brazil that, according to some authors, would have taken place in its dependencies. The methodology of the work is comparative from the confrontation of documents from several sources: cartographic, iconographic, hemerographic, bibliographical and official documents.