Political Space: The Architecture of Squatter Settlements in São Paulo, Brazil
- Title
- Political Space: The Architecture of Squatter Settlements in São Paulo, Brazil
- Creator(s)
- Opalach, Bethany
- Date
- 1997
- Is Part Of
- Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-50
- Language
- eng
- ISSN
- 1050-2092
- Short Title
- Political Space
- Abstract
- Spontaneous urban settlements are no longer seen as separate from the workings of the city, nation or world. There is a considerable body of research on residents' contributions to the formal sector of the economy and their demands for recognition as urban citizens. However, until very recently the built form of these settlements has been treated in the literature as distinct and different from established scholarly categories of the built environment, and typically has not been seen as worthy of careful documentation and analysis. Building on vernacular-environment theory, researchers have recently established a multidimensional framework for analysis of spontaneous settlements that emphasizes the importance of structural constraints to the built form of the dwelling and the settlement. This article analyzes and compares the built form of three physically mature squatter settlements in Sao Paulo, focusing specifically on the local contexts that define and constrain the physical development of these settlements. It shows how various municipal interventions are reflected in built form, highlighting the cases where, in spite of differences in context, aspects of built form remain constant across the research sites.
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