REGISTERING AND DOCUMENTING THE INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AT THE BRÁS AND MOOCA DISTRICTS

Abstract

This paper presents the processes of registration of the architectural industrial heritage in the districts of Brás and Mooca, in the city of São Paulo, and the main difficulties related to the documentation of urban cultural assets. The examples in question originated from studies and surveys conducted in the academic scope, started in 2001, and technical cooperation initiatives between the university and the municipal government, signed in order to facilitate the development of documentary records of urban heritage in areas that will be subject to large urban transformations. The trajectory of these studies and initiatives highlighted a number of difficulties, from the need of determining registration criteria and strategies to deal with the specificities of an urban scale, to the observation of public policies’ limits in terms of protection of these assets. Such initiatives, however, significantly improved the recording and documenting instruments on urban scale, they also found ways to enhance the dialogue between academic studies and preservation practices promoted by the government.