De portas abertas: proposta de restauração e intervenção arquitetônica para o casarão do antigo Registro do Paraibuna

Abstract

With the discovery of gold in the interior of Brazil, at the end of the 17th century, in lands that today correspond to the state of Minas Gerais, the Portuguese Government established a rigid network to control access to this territory, in order to prevent smuggling. In this context, along the official route “Estrada Real”, were installed customhouses then called Registro de Entrada, in which taxes levied on the right of entry of products and people into the territory of Minas Gerais were collected, also monitored the circulation of gold bars duly authorized by the authorities of Foundry Houses. In this context, the house of the Paraibuna´s Registro was built on the banks of the Paraibuna River and the base of the Serra das Abóboras, in a strategic point, in which the geographical characteristics marked the natural limit of access to Minas Gerais from the coast of Rio de Janeiro, through the road Caminho Novo da Estrada Real. With the socio-political and administrative changes experienced by Brazil in the 19th century, the construction underwent an expansion and changes process that resulted in the current sober building with a particular architectural language, in which traditional constructive solutions from the colonial period coexist harmoniously, with the implementation of elements of neoclassical aesthetics. From the 20th century, there were strictly utilitarian updates until the property reached its current state of degradation and abandonment. In the 2000s, state authorities recognized the property as a heritage of cultural interest. Given this, the main objective of this research is the development of a proposal for the restoration and architectural intervention for the building, to guarantee the preservation of its historical, architectural, and landscape values as a rare material testimony of the colonial fiscal control network over the gold paths, in addition to its reintegration into community life after years of disuse.