THE GEOLOGICAL MEMORY OF THE OLD PORTO ALEGRE DOWNTON: THE RECORD OF URBAN EVOLUTION IN THE HISTORICAL BUILDINGS AND IN THE CITY URBANISM

Abstract

An important part of the memory of a city remains in its architectonic patrimony that describes the time evolution through the urban environment and city scenery itself. This evolution can be observed through its main constructions such as public buildings, monuments, parks and squares. The transition of the Brazilian Empire to the Republic times still shows preserved in downtown of Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul State, with edifications and traces in the urban scenery. The development of the city and the modeling of the urbanism had been linked with the basement rocks of the city. The mountain landscape associated to the granitic rocks defined the localization and development of the center of the city; its rock materials were utilized to build the physical reality of the city. The association of the geological and architectonical information with the history establishes a differentiated vision of patrimony conservation and allows to view the marks of time in urbanism and scenery of Porto Alegre. This paper presents a geological contribution in history patrimony preservation and increases the knowledge about the space where we live.