Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

This study explores as its central focus the collective spaces in the central region of the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Based on an analysis of shopping galleries projects in the region, the work proposes the conceptualization of how these galleries (directly referencing the European 19th-century arcades models), conceived merely as places of commerce became spaces of collective use by the population of the central neighborhoods, extrapolating the characteristics in its original conceptions. Throughout the city there are many different spaces, characterized as public or private. However, a public space can have this denotation just because it belongs to the public administration, but is not a used space by the population. In comparison, a private space can encompass functions of agglomeration and free encounter that once would have been thought for the public spaces, making them collective spaces. These are the spaces, which mix the functions of the city and the private world that will be studied in this research, taking as focal points the shopping galleries. By mapping where these buildings are located, and then doing a more in-depth analysis of some galleries that represent different historical periods of what may be called the new center, we examine how they generate impacts on the dynamics around them, guaranteeing a diverse occupation of the urban fabric.