Characterising Brazilian Housing through an Investigation of Policies, Architecture and Statistics

Tubelo, Renata; Rodrigues, Lucelia; Gillott, Mark

Abstract

Defining common housing characteristics such as typology, floor areas and occupancy rates can be challenging in many countries because of the prevalence of self-built and/or self-promoted accommodation. Yet, for researchers, designers and policy makers, the understanding of these is crucial. Brazil is one of those countries where, despite the fact that the housing sector represents more than one third of the entire construction sector, houses' characteristics vary hugely across the 57 million units that form the existing stock. This variety, mostly a reflection of policies, architectural influences, site restrictions, financial limitations and irregular planning, is not easily documented. In this paper, the authors attempted to bridge this gap through an investigation of housing policies, architectural practices and statistical information, which allowed an identification of predominant dwelling types, sizes, occupancy density and stock availability. These were compared with other cities around the world in order to better contextualise the issue. The findings demonstrated that typological patterns can be found, such as rectangular plans, overhangs, small to medium-sized windows and design simplicity, and this is somewhat influenced by local architecture traditions and consolidated by housing policies.

Citation

Tubelo, R., Rodrigues, L., & Gillott, M. (2021). Characterising Brazilian Housing through an Investigation of Policies, Architecture and Statistics. Journal of Architecture, 26(2), 191-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2021.1895279

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 6, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Mar 12, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 12, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 12, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 13, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Architecture
• Print ISSN: 1360-2365
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4410
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 191-211
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2021.1895279
• Keywords: housing; typology; housing stock; housing trends; housing policies; architecture
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5222948
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2021.1895279
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Architecture on 12.03.21. available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13602365.2021.1895279