Casas de vila - lugares de memória no centro histórico de Manaus

Abstract

This work is about the village houses in the historic center of Manaus, conjugated houses, identified by name, surname, or by the place of origin of the owner, such as Vilas Portugal and Brazil. Some villages are remnants of the period of rubber exploration and were built in the first half of the 20th century by immigrants; it should be noted that most of the buildings, legacies of the wealth generated with exploration, are in the old center. Thus, one of the main objectives is to identify the houses of villages, relating them as places of memory, based on dialogues with residents, especially the oldest ones. Interest in the subject arose due to the accelerated process of urbanization and population growth in Manaus, which presents a very diversified image, due to its economy, socio-cultural aspects and also due to the beauty of its natural, historical and architectural heritage, being currently, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the most populous city in the state of Amazonas, this fact obviously entails a strong advance in real estate capital, high investments in the construction of buildings, condominiums, and yet, with all this process, the presence of casas de vilas in the center is notorious, appearing to be an ancient city within another city, a fact that drew a lot of attention, stimulating the realization of this work. All these factors help to compose the city's historical and cultural memory; therefore, understanding the social relations built in the villages also consists of understanding the way of life of the residents, therefore, the concepts of memory, culture and heritage were adopted to be worked on the theme, having as field procedures, the method of data collection, in addition to written and oral records, such as dialogue with the residents, also emphasizing the perspective of the public power in relation to the houses of villages, since some are inserted in the listed area of the historic center of Manaus.