Chalés paulistanos

This article studies the origins, flourishment and decadence of a certain style of\ud building, known as swiss cottages or chalets, in the urban environment of Sao Paulo. Its source\ud is found in 19th century romanticism and in the last quarter of the eighteen hundreds this kind\ud of construction was very popular. At this time it had taken on a high symbolic value although\ud of an ambiguous nature - for it was both intimately associated to an idealization of country\ud life and to technological modernity, which was then being ushered in the city of Sao Paulo. It\ud became very popular on account of the availability of industrialized construction material for\ud importation and it expanded during a construction boom that attained the city of Sao Paulo,\ud after 1875. On the downfall of Brazilian monarchy, it gradually disappeared, as it became\ud the object of restrictive measures from the local county, which considered its proliferation unruly.\ud From the beginning of the XXth century, there was a change in public taste and urban reforms\ud were implemented in downtown Sao Paulo (1902 to 1914), which was followed by a desire\ud for a new urban scene, more in touch with the system of values and interests of hegemonic\ud sectors of the local political elite

A cidade de São Paulo e a era dos melhoramentos materiaes: Obras públicas e arquitetura vistas por meio de fotografias de autoria de Militão Augusto de Azevedo, datadas do período 1862-1863

The first photographs of São Paulo, taken by Militão Augusto de Azevedo between\ud 1862 and 1863, are always cited as documentary evidence of the citys backwardness,\ud deterioration, and lethargy in the mid 19th century. However, our view is that things were\ud quite different, based on a reading of prime sources dating back to that period. In fact, the\ud architecture and urban spaces of São Paulo already showed clear signs of modernization\ud between the years 1850 and 1860, as depicted in Azevedos photographs, which belong\ud to the collection of Paulista Museum and also of the Iconography and Museums Division of\ud the São Paulo Heritage Department