Architecture, politics and development (1960- 1964)

debates interrupted from the inauguration of Brasilia to the Military Coup

Abstract

From the reading and analysis of the three main architecture magazines of the period that goes from the inauguration of Brasília to the military coup – 1960 to 1964 –, this paper aims to list the main subjects directly and explicitly related to the field of politics. We deal with the way in which magazines address the growth of cities, a result of the accelerated process of industrialization and internal migratory pressures; then, we talk about the debates about the role of architects and urban planners in the face of this growth process, linked to the participation of the category in the implementation of a development project. Some approaches to the condition of underdevelopment are expressed by the magazines and, linked to underdevelopment, on the one hand, and the accelerated growth of cities, on the other, the housing deficit and the contrasts between the housing issue and the intense activity of the real estate market. In addition, we identified construction movements of a certain planning practice. Planning and housing were seen, by the consulted magazines as technical and technological issues that should gain more space in the interior of the State, linked to the elaboration of ordering plans for the cities.