O bangalô em João Pessoa (1932-1963): expressão na arquitetura, na cidade e no modo de morar

Abstract

The bungalow, a residential typology that spread nationwide in the first half of the twentieth century, played an important role in the (trans)formation of the urban landscape of several Brazilian cities. One of them, the capital of Paraíba, experienced the expansion of its urban fabric when the public authorities invested in successive interventions, expressed in the creation of new road axes and new residential areas aimed at the modernization of the city. The urban improvements were accompanied by changes in the production of architecture, which gradually began to reflect the aspirations, especially of the upper-middle class, to live in healthy, hygienic dwellings adapted to the premises of modern life. It was in this context that the bungalow spread within the residential sphere of the capital, concentrating mainly in its expansion area and surroundings. With a simple and compact floor plan, the bungalow was consolidated as a modern and accessible housing alternative, characterized by formal and ornamental elements that contributed to the formation of a new urban landscape. With the implementation of public housing policies, the typology was used as an instrument to enable home ownership for different social classes. At the state level, between the 1930s and 1940s, the Montepio dos Funcionários Públicos facilitated for its policyholders the financing for the acquisition of housing, whether of upper-middle or popular standard, predominantly adopting the bungalow typology. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the bungalow became the preferred model among the dwellings financed, individually or as housing complexes, by the Institutes of Retirement and Pensions, linked to the federal sphere. The objective of this dissertation is to record the protagonism of the bungalow in the urban landscape of João Pessoa, understanding the relationship between the city that was expanding and modernizing, the architecture that was being produced, and the different ways of living promoted by it. For this purpose, the work makes an incursion into the trajectory of the typology from its emergence to its diffusion in the capital of Paraíba, highlighting the relationship between the expansion of the city and its occupation with the bungalow, both through private initiative, from individual investments, and through government financing. Through the identification and mapping of still existing examples of the typology, a panoramic analysis of its production is first carried out. Then, fifteen residential units, built either by private initiative or through financing, are studied in detail. Based on preestablished criteria, the analysis of the two categories generates a synthesis chart that points out the convergences and/or divergences found in the sample. Despite its relevance in the (trans)formation of the residential landscape of the capital of Paraíba in the mid-twentieth century, the bungalow is not officially recognized as heritage of historical and cultural interest, remaining at the mercy of interventions that not only disfigure it but also ruin and destroy it. The importance of this work lies in the urgency of deepening the study of the typology, while it is still possible to record its presence in the landscape of the city of João Pessoa, and above all to attribute to it the protagonism it deserves within the urban, architectural and social perspective of the period of its production.