A urbanização das “Ordenações do Reino”

Abstract

For over 300 years, throughout Brazil’s colonial period ”“ into the Empire and up to the Republic ”“, Ordenações do Reino de Portugal [Ordinances of the Kingdom of Portugal] made up the normative foundation of a sophisticated administrative and legal system of territorial occupation and control. These books, which were successively reprinted and widely distributed by agents of the Crown, devoted several sections to buildings and to their relation with public space and with other buildings. The arrangement of openings ”“ privacy, view, and lighting ”“, on-street constructions, walls separating neighbours, rainwater, and house sharing were some of the topics supervised by the almotacé, a public agent of the local councils. Such regular principles, together with their widespread diffusion, may have played a role in establishing the now visible uniformity of Portuguese-Brazilian cities. This paper presents a short analysis of the edition, diffusion, and nature of some of these values, aiming to stimulate further investigation on the extent of that influence.