Vernacular architecture in Brazilian semiarid region: survey and memory in the state of Sergipe

Abstract

[EN] Buildings with earth in their composition have been common since the beginning of the Brazilian territory’s settlement. Until this day, wattle-and-daub homes are frequent in the Northeast region of the country. This technique uses a structural cage made of the weft of woods whose interlocking voids are covered with thrown wet clay. Due to the current association of these buildings as shelters for insects that may contain Trypanosoma cruzi (which transmits the Chagas disease) numerous public policies guide eradication and replacement of these buildings by others built with masonry. Due to the destruction of these buildings, built with vernacular earthen techniques, this research aims to survey buildings that still resist in the semiarid region of Sergipe state. Therefore, literature review was carried out on architecture in the semiarid region and building investigation techniques using digital tools. Considering Sars-Cov-2 pandemic as a prohibitive condition that caused difficulties in collecting data in the field, it was necessary to seek out methods that could be used for a remote survey. Furthermore, an exploratory analysis was carried out with digitally available tools in which it was possible to observe popular buildings built with earth in the legal semi-arid region. Initially, data was collected from the latest demographic censuses carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), as well as the socioeconomic data of Brazilian families in poverty situations registered with the government. This initial data, however, did not present information on geographic positioning of the dwellings, making it necessary to conduct a survey through Google Street View software, allowing the visualization of images at ground level, being effective on searching for wattle-and-daub residences. From these data, a catalog of the constructions found was generated and, by georeferencing these dwellings, the documentation produced may contribute to the preservation of vernacular constructive memory of this study’s location object.