Preserving Brazilian vernacular architecture: The need for a different approach

Abstract

Heritage preservation has commonly focused on conserving or restoring material heritage. Technical projects are its most common tool and there is often a top-down approach to the interventions carried out. This situation frequently leads to a change in the production logic that gave rise to the architecture which they are supposed to be preserving and an expansion of urban sceneries, while causing the loss of local values ??and cultural traditions. An integrated approach is needed, one which seeks to preserve not only the material heritage, but also its intangible supports, thus relating the preservation of the built ensembles to that of traditional techniques, knowledge, and construction processes.