Thinking about the Floating City of Manaus (1940 - 1980): Riverine territory in historical perspective as a contribution to the urban and rural development of the Amazon

• Grant number: 24/09387-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Ana Claudia Scaglione Veiga de Castro
• Grantee: Isabella de Bonis Silva Simões
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is undeniable that we have reached a moment where we are experiencing a climate crisis, where preserving the last forests of the planet seems to be urgent. However, the Amazon continues to be in jeopardy, being exploited and developed based on a model that has contributed to this crisis. In this scenario, it is important to critically review what this model entails and how it has acted territorially. Looking at the recent history of the Amazon, it is noteworthy that the military period was influential in shaping the region we see today, as a producer of commodities. Therefore, revisiting the history of Brazilian developmentalism in the Amazon, pre and post the 1964 coup, considering all its heterogeneity, is essential for discussing new perspectives. In this context, if the military developmental project viewed the Amazon as a vast empty space, what would have been the project if it had been seen as it is: a culturally rich territory constructed through the wisdom of diverse forest peoples? To address this question, this research project proposes a study of the city of Manaus before the establishment of the Zona Franca, the main development project of the regime for the city, aiming to shed light on the riverine existences that were contesting urban territory until 1968, when they were displaced, and which formed the Floating City and the stilt neighborhoods in downtown Manaus. The objective of historicizing this riverine event in Manaus leads to the hypothesis that a critical study of the Floating City can contribute to envisioning new development perspectives for the Amazon, focusing on its aquatic and forest character, through the knowledge of riverine peoples, their ways of life, and their territorialization in the Amazon space. To undertake this research, diverse materials will be examined, such as: documentation from the dictatorship era, journalistic publications from this period, photographic collections (Marcel Gautherot and IBGE), documentaries by Jorge Bodanzky and Glauber Rocha about the Amazon, and literature by Milton Hatoum. By cross-referencing these sources and employing a methodological approach linked to Cultural Materialism by Raymond Williams, the aim is to arrive at a proactive critique of development perspectives for the threatened Amazon of the 21st century.