This new research seeks to develop the system of centralities and public spaces created from the 19th century, with the arrival of the Portuguese Court in the city, around the new urban axis connecting the Imperial Palace (Praça XV) to the Royal Residence (São Cristóvão). It constitutes an axis perpendicular to the colonial axis structured along Rua Primeiro de Março and punctuated by the centralities exercised by the following public spaces: Praça XV, Largo do Carioca, Praça Tiradentes and Campo de Santana. From there until Quinta de Boa Vista, there is no actual centrality organized around notable public spaces, but areas with urban development after the original urban core. These are areas such as Cidade Nova and the road that in the 20th century was consolidated by Avenida Presidente Vargas. If the first axis defined the consolidation of the compact structure of the city, this opened the way for suburban expansion, with its different functional, social and cultural characteristics. This analysis will allow us to complete the study started on centralities and public spaces in the central area of ​​Rio de Janeiro. The study of the real route, and the particularity of the urban and architectural surroundings - not developed until now -, is important due to the coincidence with the celebrations of the 200 years of the Court's arrival in Rio. The research comprises the search for historical and iconographic documents that allow build the evolution of the squares mentioned. With the historical maps of the city, made in the 19th and 20th centuries, the historical layers will be defined for the 3D reconstruction of the formal, functional and aesthetic evolution of the squares until the beginning of the 21st century. The study and verification of the current reality will allow a diagnosis to be made about the possible changes to be implemented in order to recover the social and cultural significance of public spaces.

Funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico.

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