Use of GIS for the registration of the urban heritage: the Quadrilátero Central in Ribeirão Preto (SP)

Abstract

This article aims to present the systematic registration of buildings of historical interest in the Quadrilátero Central of Ribeirão Preto (SP) using Geographic Information System (GIS), with emphasis on the inclusion of the minor architecture. The interest in preserving this kind of architecture goes back to the Italian environment of the late 19th century, when the strategies for protecting picturesque environments were discussed. It gained relevance with the Venice Charter in 1964, which considered not only grandiose and isolated architectural creations, but also modest works as historical monuments. The Quadrilátero Central, where the urban occupation began, concentrates most of the cultural heritage listed in the county. Among the listed buildings, monumental characteristics, associated with the coffee period and the characters of the local elite, opposed to the simple characteristics of the minor architectures. Both characterize the area as an historical urban landscape, essentially heterogeneous, whose preservation requires systematic studies and records. With the objective of documenting and offering subsidies for ITS preservation, between 2016 and 2019, the project “Historical and patrimonial survey of the Quadrilátero Central of Ribeirão Preto (SP)” was developed. In 2019, this project adopted a GIS, which enabled the storage, spatialization, classification and processing of a large volume of data about buildings of historical interest remaining in the landscape. The creation of this system opens possibility of application to other areas, both from the municipality itself and from others, as well as from the design of preservation strategies based on partnerships between the public administration and universities.