Chalés paulistanos

Abstract

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