Cataguases is a city of 70 thousand inhabitants that is not very famous compared to other large municipalities in Minas Gerais, but it has a special characteristic: it is known as the "
Brazilian modernist city ". This is because, over the years, the region has come to serve as a home to artistic and cultural works that marked modernism in Brazil.
From visual arts to great architectural monuments, the city brings together a series of works produced between 1940 and 1950. Some names immortalized through their projects are Francisco Bolonha, MMM Roberto and none other than
Oscar Niemeyer .
At the time the heritage sites were built, the city had only 20,000 inhabitants, and for this reason, it still attracts the attention of tourists who are passionate about the subject. Among the monuments built, we can highlight the
Francisco Inácio Peixoto Residence (1940) and the
Colégio Cataguases (1949) by Oscar Niemeyer – the first project, in fact, featured landscaping by Roberto Burle Marx.
Characteristics of modernism in the city
The city has several characteristics of
modern architecture : integration between public and private areas, especially in the projects signed by Niemeyer, especially in the College, which is still active today and functions as a state school.
These modernist concepts were established by
Le Corbusier , who advocated a freer and more democratic architecture, and applied by several Brazilian geniuses such as
Vilanova Artigas and
Lina Bo Bardi in their projects. The city is faithful to the master's commandments.
There are
more than 30 modernist works in the city , some of them large-scale. This movement was largely motivated by Niemeyer's two buildings. The public sector adopted the title of
modernist city and invested in the aesthetics for new buildings - from schools, churches, squares and even a modernist cinema.
