TOMBAMENTO, DESTOMBAMENTO E DEMOLIÇÃO

A PERDA DE UM CONJUNTO RESIDENCIAL ART DÉCO EM SOROCABA-SP

Abstract

Architectural examples of the Art Déco tendency, mostly dating from the 1930s and 1940s, despite being fundamental for understanding the modernization process of Brazilian cities, remain little recognized and undervalued. In Sorocaba, a city in the countryside of São Paulo, despite attempts to safeguard, an example of Art Déco architecture, of recognized historical and cultural value, had its protection process annulled and, after legal proceedings and a new attempt at protection, it was suddenly demolished. This is the case of “Jardim Bertina”: a set of eleven single-family residences, dating from 1938. The loss of its material substance, through demolition, consisted of irreparable damage to the history and culture of Sorocaba. The present text results from the studies that were carried out aiming at the new protection of the “Jardim Bertina”, before its demolition. The adopted study methodology associates archival and iconographic research with interviews and surveys carried out in situ. In this way, we seek to reflect on the appreciation of Art Déco examples and their safeguard, emphasizing the case of “Jardim Bertina”, in which the permanent damage of the demolition, despite the actions of citizens who achieved its protection, could not be avoided – leaving the documental, oral and iconographic sources as evidences of their existence.