This research project has as main objective to analyze the formation process - as well as the functional, formal, cultural and symbolic significance - of the urban voids existing in the consolidated urban fabric of the great contemporary western cities, notably, in Rio de Janeiro. The ever more expressive presence of places, territories and buildings that have passed, or are going through, is undergoing an emptying process, making visible meanings and latent tensions in the current urban space of large cities. The methodology adopted in this research aims to: (i) understand the contemporary dimension of urban voids; (ii) conceptualize and analyze urban voids in their urban context; (iii) identify structural elements of the different urban void systems. The main hypothesis of this research is that the urban voids would be elements of the urban space from which one could think of the contemporary city as a producer of voids.

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