Architecture of Porto Alegre

Urban revitalization projects promoted by the state and municipal governments, such as those of the Mauá Pier, the former Industrial District, and a program of concessions of parks and other public spaces to the private sector, have produced intense controversy.

It became a flourishing commercial entrepôt and a busy fluvial port for ships of small and medium draught coming from the sea through Lagoa dos Patos, receiving goods, people, and even militias and settlers who would later be distributed throughout the vast surrounding region, both by land and up the various rivers that flowed into it.

Consolidating a series of previously sparse initiatives of occupation of the state, from 1752 onwards, families of Azorean immigrants sent by the Portuguese government began to arrive, giving rise to the historical center of the future Porto Alegre, and also to some conflicts with the first sesmeiro, Ornellas.

[3][6] As the Freguesia grew and became richer, the quality of construction also improved, leaving the provisional in favor of the typical colonial style common to all of Brazil, a Portuguese heritage more permanent, voluminous, complex, and ornamental, and which is described aesthetically as a derivation of the Baroque.

Inside, as was colonial practice, it was more luxurious, with a vestibule under the choir, a nave, a chancel decorated with wood carving, a scenographic retable in the background, secondary altars in side niches, and statuary.

[1] The heritage of the colonial style remained strong in the city until the end of the 19th century, especially regarding popular architecture; very austere, with ornaments reduced to a wrought iron railing in the upper floor openings, transformed into doors, and more rarely, a tile coating on the facade.

[3][8] The elite, on the other hand, built much larger houses and decorated interiors with increasing luxury, sometimes with extensive gardens and secondary buildings, such as the Solar dos Câmara, the oldest residential construction of the city still standing, today transformed into a cultural center.

Of Neoclassical profile, the most important remaining building is the Metropolitan Curia, built in 1865 with a project by Jules Villain (or Villiers), altered in detail by Johann Grünewald, composing a majestic ensemble of palatial dimensions that was hailed by Athos Damasceno as the only monument in the city worthy of its name:[7] Vast, with its fortress wall, finished at the top by the lacy waist of the balusters, it would impress only by its proportions if, at the end of the long staircase, the classical triangular pediment rose imposingly above the severe order of the smooth columns.

(...) In the center - the square area of the cloisters, with the simple arcades on massive pillars, the long sun-beaten corridors, and the good conventual silence that leads people to meditation.Surpassing it in fame is the São Pedro Theater, whose project was elaborated in Rio de Janeiro and executed by Phillip von Normann.

Work on the Provisional Palace began in 1857 and the project included structural solutions that were advanced for the time, such as the roof slab with a system of double "T" steel profiles combined with compression bricks, forming small arches.

A rich bourgeoisie formed mainly by descendants of German immigrants, together with the official spheres, gave the most decisive impulse, commissioning sumptuous works, at a time when the state was experiencing a phase of prosperity, having become the third economy in Brazil.

[19] The most important influences that defined the profile of the main buildings erected during this phase were French Pompier architecture, with its exuberant decorativism and ostentatious character, and the positivist philosophy adopted by the government, creating an idealistic iconography that mirrored visions of progress, civilization, hygiene, and order.

[17] Also important was the formulation in 1914 by the Municipal Government of the General Improvement Plan, possibly conceived by João Moreira Maciel, and considered by Helton Bello the greatest legacy of the positivist administration in urbanistic terms, as it was a fundamental instrument for the modernizing transformations that would consolidate soon after, supplanting the structure and urban image of colonial heritage.

[1][20] The most significant names in this phase were Theodor Wiederspahn, German-born architect, owner of a powerful and original eclectic style, combining Renaissance, Neo-Baroque, and Neoclassical features with a luxurious decorative conception; Rudolf Ahrons, engineer-builder, head of a construction office that carried out the most important works, and João Vicente Friedrichs, owner of the most requested and populous local decoration studio, employing a multitude of local and foreign craftsmen with solid preparation, such as Alfred Adloff, Wenzel Folberger, Alfredo Staege, and many more.

[19] Manoel Itaqui, one of the introducers of Art Nouveau, designed several buildings in the central campus of Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul such as the Castelinho ("Little castle"), the Astronomical Observatory, as well as the former headquarters (now gone) of Colégio Júlio de Castilhos and the Otávio Rocha Viaduct (the latter in partnership with Duilio Bernardi); Hermann Menschen, author of the UFRGS Law School and several residences;[24] Affonso Hebert, whose most notable work is the State Public Library;[25] and finally the Frenchman Maurice Gras, author of only one project in the city, but of great importance, the Piratini Palace, the current seat of the State Government and official residence of the governor.

The structures erected also set new standards of hygiene, functionality, and aesthetics for civil construction, particularly notable are the large central iron portico and the side, collapsible warehouses, which were imported from France.

The Deco aesthetic abandons the heavy decorativism of late Eclecticism in search of solutions with reduced ornamentation and more integration with the functionality and structure of the spaces, which, together with advances in construction techniques, made possible the beginning of the verticalization process of the city.

Lutzenberger came from Germany to work at the construction company Weis & Cia, designing important buildings such as the São José Church, the Comércio Palace, and the Pão dos Pobres Foundation.

[28] The works of the three creators were hailed by their contemporaries as landmarks of the most modern architecture, and remain among the most significant examples of the building style in the city in the interwar period, with several of them being protected by the public authorities.

Largely supported by technological resources, such as the dazzling night lighting of the event's spaces and pavilions, and driven by a well-informed Deco rhetoric, the Exposition articulated a remarkable architectural and urbanistic set that synthesized a vision of modernity committed to the neoclassical tradition, causing an unprecedented visual impact on its contemporaries.

Such architectural proposals locally manifested the modern thought advocated by Le Corbusier.Another prominent name, arriving at the same time with the same training was Carlos Alberto de Holanda Mendonça, leaving a large number of works in less than a decade of activity, some of great size.

[20][40] At the end of the decade, the first Master Plan of Porto Alegre was finally implemented, composed by Edvaldo Paiva and Demétrio Ribeiro, based on the Charter of Athens, and supported by specific legislation (Law 2046/59).

But the technical approach of the projects disregarded elementary aspects of urban landscaping and favored the de-characterization of the historic center, with the disappearance of numerous eclectic buildings, some of great value, and the last remnants of colonial architecture, both residential and public.

[20] The modernist principles were still in use, as an extension of the Athens Charter, which was endorsed by the new Master Plan of 1979, although some innovations were introduced, such as an inspiration in the superblocks model used in Brasília and greater community participation in decisions through Municipal Councils.

It was then that it was definitively understood that a mutually comprehensive alliance would be necessary not only between architecture and urbanism for a harmonious general growth, but also to attract other areas of knowledge to the discussion and to imagine solutions that were more dynamic, realistic and adaptable to the increasingly fluent profile of society, developing strategic plans based on the axes of structuring and urban mobility, the forms of private land use, environmental qualification, economic promotion and a series of more up-to-date planning criteria, taking into account aspects of collective memory, cultural identity, and human coexistence.

Important elements were lost, such as the carved retable, and under the pretext of being too ruined, it was almost demolished, but society reacted, and all the subsequent commotion contributed to an imprint in everyone's conscience, citizens, and public power, of the value of memory, art, history and its material testimonies.

[25][47][48] In aesthetic terms, in the last decades, there has been a decline of the Modernist school and its replacement by the values of Post-Modernism, re-reading historical styles, and creating a new sense of eclecticism, freedom, and formal democracy.

Some critics refuse to recognize a truly living architecture in the present in Porto Alegre, no longer find works that can stand as cultural references and urban landmarks, and denounce an identity crisis in local production.

The works for the 2014 World Cup have become notorious, however, at the same time that the official instances make great propaganda of this activity, pointing to alleged economic, social, environmental, and cultural benefits, criticism mounts: Accusations of technical errors, various irregularities, corruption, and human rights violations multiply, and influential sectors of the population claim that they are not being heard, triggering many protests, which have sometimes ended in violence.

[63][64][65][66][67][68][69] Associated with this model of urban renewal, which has persisted for many years, come real estate speculation, threats to the quality of life and historical heritage, dismantling of the Master Plan, and governance of the environment.