Modern Environmental Science and Engineering (ISSN 2333-2581) June 2019, Volume 5, No. 6, pp. 491-502 Doi: 10.15341/mese(2333-2581)/06.05.2019/005 Academic Star Publishing Company, 2019 www.academicstar.us Preservation Condition of Buildings That Have Been Supposedly Restored: Campus of Laranjeiras, Sergipe, Brazil Eder Donizeti da Silva, Adriana Dantas Nogueira, and Josefa Luana Oliveira Freire Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil Abstract: In 2004, Monumenta Program (Brazilian urban heritage Sustainable program) has elected the town of Laranjeiras, in Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil, to be able to develop preservationist actions, under federal custody resulting from the loan agreement between the IDB (Interamerican Development Bank) and Brazilian Government, according to the list of conservation priorities elaborated by the Special Commission of the Ministry of Culture. Among the proposed set of actions, Campus of the Federal University of Sergipe started its activities in 2009 in the old buildings (built in nineteenth and twentieth centuries) called “Block of Trapiches” (it is the term used for sugar warehouses). Since 2015, and even recently, these “supposed” restored buildings have presented many degradations after some years without preventive maintenance. Regarding to the failure of conservation and restoration, this paper aims to document and discuss several problems of restored buildings that are related to the absence of care in prevention and maintenance of the built patrimony, as well as, it has occurred some inappropriate intervention actions (as they can be called “reforms”), for example, by using inappropriate modern paints, using cement-based mortars and similar products on historical masonry, causing more destruction than preservation. Key words: architecture, technology, conservation, restoration including the possibility of establishing a campus for 1. Introduction Federal University of Sergipe in this town, by using In 2004, Monumenta Program (Brazilian urban concepts of requalification, restoration, rehabilitation heritage Sustainable program) has elected the town of of old degraded buildings in the center town. Laranjeiras, in Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil, to be able Some buildings attracted attention and presented to develop preservationist actions, under federal possibility of implementing this project. They were old custody resulting from the loan agreement between the commercial buildings with two or more floors from the IDB (Interamerican Development Bank) and Brazilian nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Government, according to the list of conservation Technicians from Monumenta program and IPHAN priorities elaborated by the Special Commission of the (Institute of National Historical and artistic Patrimony) Ministry of Culture. developed proposed interventions for the Block of Eligible area of the town of Laranjeiras was rated to Trapiches. Trapiches is the term used for “sugar apply for the resources of the program, which was warehouse”, which were related to the old sugar mills signed in July 2004 with the State Government, of the region. They were a place for sugar storage (not deal with production). Corresponding author: Eder Donizeti da Silva, Ph.D., Five undergraduate degrees have begun in 2007, but Professor; research areas/interests: built patrimony, in other places like municipal schools in next preservation technology of building, historical center areas. E-mail: [email protected]. neighborhood, by waiting that restoration has finished. 492 Preservation Condition of Buildings That Have Been Supposedly Restored: Campus of Laranjeiras, Sergipe, Brazil This happened only in 2009 in a big party day, with punctuated studies, such as the writings of Vitruvius. In presences of many politicians and university people, this way, it may be wise to say that the defense of the like President of Brazil Exc.Mr. Luis Inácio Lula da historical value of antique objects and a sense of use of Silva, Ministry of Education Exc.Mr Fernando Haddad, conservation theory were established from the Governor Exc.Mr. Marcelo Deda, Mayor of intellectual Renaissance in Europe. Laranjeiras Exc.Mrs. Maria Ione Macedo Sobral, In the Brazilian case, searching for knowledge about Rector of Federal University of Sergipe Prof. Dr. Josué tutelage processes also requires an understanding that Modesto dos Passos Subrinho. unraveling all economic, political, social, cultural and Considering ten years of this happening, it could be territorial dimensions that have involved the urban past done some considerations about theoretical and is almost an impossible task. However, if the difficulty technological concepts of building preservation of the in recognizing that actions, although practiced before Block of Trapiches. One of them is about the Industrial and French Revolution and they were not critical-reflective analysis of the pretension for practiced with the modern capitalist consciousness, it is restoration carried out in these buildings, as well as the also not difficult to understand the lack of this current state of conservation from the degradation interventionist and especially preservationist process pathologies that these buildings present in. before 1930 in this country. Therefore, this paper intends to revisit the history Since 1933 several public policies were practiced in and theory of the constructive technical restoration Brazil with the objective of safeguarding, rehabilitating, carried out by the Monumenta Program in 2004, as well requalifying, revaluing, the historical urban areas [2]. as to identify, mapping and recording the interventions These actions have always a scenario of degradation initially carried out and current conditions of and abandonment of urban buildings sets and locations conservation and restoration of the “rehabilitated” called by the common sense of historical centers and/or buildings. Then, it could be possible even to historical cities. recommend actions that can make possible to correct In 1995, one of the last chapters of this type of action the anomalies in these historical buildings in the face of began to be formulated by the Ministry of Culture, with the technical and scientific respect, which is necessary the direction and support of the Inter-American for the reuse and rehabilitation of objects carrying Development Bank (IDB), in general, aimed at the judgment of heritage values. viability of a program of preservation of the heritage [3]. The original idea of the Monumenta program was 2. Monumenta Program and Block of inspired by experiments carried out in the city of Quito Trapiches (Ecuador) after the great Earthquake of 1987. Intervention in historical urban areas arising from Intervention actions were based on the rehabilitation public policies goes back to a trajectory that can be not only of isolated buildings, but also of public spaces lectured from the Industrial Revolution, with the and in the improvement of infrastructure and urban pinnacle of enclosing the French Revolution, both in a mobility, in which topics such as recovery of housing symbiosis related to capitalism and urbanization [1]. areas and recycling of buildings. According to the However, protection/caution of goods bearers of author: “The result of the interventions of the rescue aesthetic and historical values receive greater fund was considered excellent, leading the IDB to think intellectual lair from a capitalist condition is an about possible future developments”. assertion that requires care to affirm, because of the In 1995, IDB proposed to the Brazilian Ministry of lack or impossibility of documentation or more Culture to develop a program specifically focused on Preservation Condition of Buildings That Have Been Supposedly Restored: 493 Campus of Laranjeiras, Sergipe, Brazil historical cities. Main idea was to produce a project that people for specific tasks of preservation; (5) insertion would serve as a base (pilot plan) to all future actions of of educational programs for population; (6) elaboration conservation and restoration of historical urban areas in of inventories and technical manuals by IPHAN and Brazil and that could, even be practiced in other Ministry of Culture; (7) Encourage the participation of countries. private companies. IPHAN has elaborated and discussed with the IDB It could be highlighted the two preservationist about this program from 1996 and, in 1997 was created actions by the Monumenta Program: Cachoeira town the UCG (Central Management Unit) to coordination (in the Recôncavo Baiano, located 110 km from of this program, which aimed at a direct partnership Salvador, capital of Bahia) and Laranjeiras town between UNESCO and municipalities that would be (located 35 km from Aracaju, capital of Sergipe). This “elected” objects of intervention. There was always an emphasis is given by the proposal of rehabilitation of administrative technical partner and IPHAN agent historical buildings for implementing higher supervisor responsible for projects approval. In 1999, education-university campus, respectively, Federal Brazilian Government and IDB signed the loan University of Recôncavo Baiano (UFRB) and the contract (about 125 million dollars) and the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS). Monumenta program started in 2000 and approved the This paper approaches the implementation problems Operating Regulation in 2001 [3]. of Campus of Laranjeiras, but first it is necessary to There were 26 urban centers in Brazil chosen for explain why this town was chosen for this kind of interventionist