BRATKE AND THE ICOMI´S CIVILIZATION PROJECT

Abstract

The paper discusses the sources of design solutions used by Oswaldo Bratke in the projects for Serra do Navio and Vila Amazonas. The projects were awarded by Icomi in the 1950’s, and distinguished themselves by a careful study and effective solutions related to thermal comfort. Without denying the innovations present in these projects, this article turns to an examination of the source of project and management solutions proposals by Bratke, by highlighting how some of them appear to be closely linked to usual procedures in the history of company towns, which reveal themselves restrictive regarding the autonomy of its residents. It is understood that if Bratke´s project reveals innovative design solutions consistent with the climate and local conditions, on the other side it shows to be extremely conservative about the overall design. It was adopted a rigid social division of space, design strategies to promote segregation of the singles and to avoid concentrations of residents in public spaces, suggested management measures to control the residents´s free time (as promotion of competitions relating to the conservation of houses and gardens, encouraging the cultivation of vegetable gardens in backyards, and so on). Serra do Navio, in particular, was conceived as an isolated community in which contact with “outsiders” should be avoided. In his writings on the two projects, Bratke shows sympathy for the strict discipline which is common in settlements of this kind, recommending only that the company exercises discreetly its controls. This attitude and the design and management procedures proposed by Bratke, are supported by his belief in a civilizing action in the jungle as a result of Icomi´s politics, based on a notion of “city” as a clean, orderly and safe place.