Waters in abundance - the reservoirs of Cantareira: a study of Industrial Archaeology / Água aos cântaros - os reservatórios da Cantareira: um estudo de Arqueologia Industrial

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

This research project used Industrial Archeology to analyze the material urban culture that existed in the city of São Paulo at the end of the 19th Century, which changed the configuration of the lives of those living in the city and changed the behavior of its citizens by implementing city sanitation systems and using new materials of construction that improved health and hygiene conditions, thus meeting the aspirations of the ruling elite. In order to understand this process we must first understand the role of the company that took it upon itself to develop a water collection and distribution system to serve the city. Companhia Cantareira de Águas e Esgotos was a private company established in 1877. In 1893 the Water and Sewer Department took over the company and instituted numerous guidelines in order to try and solve a problem that was already endemic in the capital city of São Paulo. As part of this focused effort, a number of structures were built in the Cantareira Mountains, such as reservoirs, aqueducts and pipelines reaching the distribution network. These were true engineering challenges at the time and the result was a network of arteries covering much of the city. In order to recover this "water heritage", practically abandoned today, we had to first conduct an inventory that recorded the existing remnants of this structure, including its location, current state of repair, and changes over time. The end product is a list of protection measures to safeguard this heritage. Within this context it is possible to understand when São Paulo, which had been technologically dependent on other major cities and imported all of its hydraulic equipment, started to react and encourage local industry to manufacture such goods. This process was the seed that helped transform São Paulo from a traditional to a capitalist city.

ASSUNTO(S)

cantareira inventário water heritage industrial archeology arqueologia industrial cantareira herança da água hydraulic equipment equipamentos hidráulicos inventory

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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