Urban transformations in the city of Natal in the 1920s

Author(s)

George Alexandre Ferreira Dantas

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2003-10-07

Examining board members

Carlos Roberto Monteiro de Andrade; Maria Stella Martins Bresciani; José Tavares Correia de Lira

• Advisor: Carlos Roberto Monteiro de Andrade

Abstract

This dissertation aims to discuss the process of urban transformations by which the city of Natal has passed in the 1920s. This period was fundamental to conform Natal\'s modern urban structure and landscape. By intending to comprehend the social, cultural, and political context that foments the master plan, elaborated by architect Giacomo Palumbo between 1929 and 1930, it discusses: the urban modernization process that had been developed since last decades of XIXth century, pointing specifically the emerging of a technical approach on urban space; the representations of urban \"crise\" which marked the history of Natal in the beginnings of 1920s; the literary and historiographical narratives that reveal the efforts for comprehending the meanings of urban transformations and for constructing a history of the city, task in which the intelectual Câmara Cascudo was fundamental; the relations between sanitation and education into the urban plan elaborated by engineer Henrique de Novaes in 1924; the municipal administration of engineer Omar O\'Grady (1924-1930) and his efforts to racionalizate and to get efficiency in the urban reforms; the influences and characteristics of Palumbo\'s master plan related to the culture of town planning developed since the beginnings of XXth century. Finally, it discusses the accounts on Natal produced by the intelectual Mario de Andrade in the end of 1920s. (AU)