A obra do engenheiro Sylvio Jaguaribe Ekman em Fortaleza: décadas de 1930 e 1940

Abstract

This work aims to characterize the contribution and professional career of the Engineer Sylvio Jaguaribe Ekman, within the new cycle of modernization aesthetics renewal that took place in Fortaleza in the 1930s and 1940s, through the analysis of the architectonic events present in his work, considering him as an important Fortaleza urban space transforming agent. This research is part of the field of New History as it seeks to bring to light themes outside the canon of heroic narratives of the great works in architecture history. The professional trajectory of characters who had a production focused on common architecture or outside the great achievements of modern architecture scene, despite the advances that have occurred in the area, still presents numerous historiographical gaps to be filled. This dissertation seeks to insert the figure of Sylvio Jaguaribe Ekman within this transformation process in the Fortaleza urban landscape, understanding him as an important agent in the introduction of new modernizing architectural languages in the city, such as art deco and neocolonial. This occurs in a period of changings in the building legislation of Fortaleza, in 1932, which starts to demand the presence of graduated professionals to elaborate projects and construct buildings. From then on, a change can be observed in the professional field with the arrival of qualified technicians that replaced the work of draftsmen and people without college degree in civil construction in Fortaleza. During this modernization process, the beginning of verticalization in the center and expansion of the city towards the east and changes in the patterns of occupation of the coast can be observed. Through the biographical recovery, focused on the professional performance of Sylvio Jaguaribe Ekman, the objective of this work is to understand the process of modernization of Fortaleza from his contribution as an engineer. As a research methodology, a diverse documentation was used among the primary sources, in addition to interviews, technical visits, photographic surveys, bibliographical research, spatialization of the data collected for making maps, analysis of his works and elaboration of the final synthesis of the research. The recovery of Sylvio Jaguaribe Ekman’s professional trajectory and analysis of his architectural production allowed us observing the modernization process of Fortaleza from new perspectives.