Inhabiting the present, building the past: oral history and heritage in São Paulo’s Modern housing complexes

• Autor(a) principal: Brito do Nascimento, Flávia
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: arq.urb
• Texto Completo: https://revistaarqurb.com.br/arqurb/article/view/30
• topic: História oral; Habitação social; Institutos de aposentadoria e Pensões; Oral history; Social housing; Retirement and Pension Institutes

This paper aims to discuss cultural heritage and the place of memory in the housing complexes built by the Retirement and Pension Institutes (IAPs, for its acronym in Portuguese) in the City of São Paulo in the 1940s and 50s. Based on an oral history project featuring residents of these complexes, we discuss the construction of the past and its meanings in light of the architectural and urban transformations in the city. To what extent are the housing complexes considered cultural references by these social actors? How would we go about perpetuating these buildings for future generations, in light of the constitutional requirements for expanding what is considered as cultural heritage? The residents’ accounts of both their past and present experiences reveal deep connections to (whether in their appropriation or criticism of) the historical housing programs promoted by the IAPs in Brazil. This oral history will contribute to discussing accounts of life in the housing complexes and their relationship with modernday preservation practices