Impacts of Real Estate Development on the Preservation of the Paulista’s Cultural Heritage

The case of the gasholders of Comgás in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5821/siiu.13046

Abstract

The study examines the real estate sector's pressure on preservation councils in São Paulo (BR), addressing a specific case of loosening landmark preservation guidelines in favor of urban development. Analyzing the proposal to construct five towers on the historical site of Comgás, in the city's central area, approved despite technical objections, highlights the political influence and economic interests involved. This approval will promote urban verticalization at odds with heritage protection. The study underscores the predatory urbanization that erases historical traces for “progress”, raising the discussion about power asymmetries leading to the destruction of the city's history and culture in favor of urban expansion, with the complicity of the Public Administration. The urgency of more sustainable and socially just urban practices is emphasized in the face of threats to the preservation of historical and cultural heritage in a climate crisis scenario.

Author Biographies

Eneida de Almeida, Sao Judas Tadeu University

She holds a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from FAU-USP (1981), a master's degree in Studio and Restoration of Monuments from Università La Sapienza, Rome (1987), and a Ph.D. in Architecture and Urbanism from FAU-USP (2010). As a permanent faculty member of the stricto sensu Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism at São Judas Tadeu University (PPGAUR-USJT), and a researcher at the Anima Institute, she is the alternate representative of IAB-SP (Institute of Architects of Brazil, São Paulo Department) at CONPRESP (Municipal Council for the Preservation of Historical, Cultural, and Environmental Heritage of the City of São Paulo). As a co-editor of the electronic academic journal arq.urb, she is primarily dedicated to issues of memory and the preservation of cultural heritage from a broad perspective of recognition and documentation.

Andréa de Oliveira Tourinho, Sao Judas Tadeu University

Since 2014, she has been a faculty member of the Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PGAUR) and the Undergraduate Program at São Judas Tadeu University (São Paulo). She holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and Urbanism from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of USP (2004); a master's degree in Esthetics and Theory of the Arts from the Institute of Esthetics and Theory of the Arts, Autonomous University of Madrid (1991); and a bachelor's degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Mackenzie University (1985). She has experience in the field of Architecture and Urbanism, focusing primarily on the following themes: Preservation of Cultural Heritage; Theories and History of Architecture and Urbanism; Urban Public Policies, seeking the interfaces between these fields of discussion and action. She has worked with public policies at the Municipal Government of São Paulo, in the areas of heritage preservation and urban development, and she carries out consultancy work in these areas, as well as courses on the relationships between heritage, architecture, and the city. She serves as a reviewer for Fapesp and for journals with themes related to architecture, urbanism, and material culture. She is a co-editor of the academic electronic journal arq.urb. She coordinates the Research Project "Cultural heritage, architecture, and city: discourses and practices in the construction of memory," covering multidisciplinary discussions involving the fields of cultural heritage preservation and urbanism, theory and history of architecture and urbanism, as well as urban planning. She is the Co-Coordinator of the São Paulo State Forum of Entities in Defense of Brazilian Heritage. She represents the Institute of Architects of Brazil - São Paulo Department in the Council for the Defense of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic, and Touristic Heritage of São Paulo (CONDEPHAAT).

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Published

2025-01-26

Issue

No. 16 (2024): Barcelona-Córdoba 2024

Section

SIIU 2024 CORDOBA

License

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