Heritage, values and historiography: The preservation of the IAPI complex

Abstract

The understanding of heritage conservation has gradually been changing from a technical activity, based on scientific values, to a social and political activity, guided by cultural values. At the same time, as we understand conservation as a social practice, there’s a growing need to understand how the objects, collections or buildings and places are recognized as heritage. Considering conservation as a social practice leads us ultimately to realize that its purpose is not to maintain the objects and places for themselves, but to maintain their values. In this context, this article tries to understand the relation between historic preservation and historiography, showing that in both cases one is always dealing with values that ultimately decide what is going to be narrated or preserved. As a case study, we will analyze the history and the preservation process of the IAPI Complex in Belo Horizonte, the most important local housing project in the 40s, and also a representation of the important performance of the Institutes of Welfare and Social Assistance at that decade. This article will show the high quality of this architectonic production, in spite of the hegemonic historiography that incenses the works affiliated to the Modern Movement such as Gávea and Pedregulho complexes, and almost completely ignores other modern variations like most of the architecture produced by the IAPs.

Key words: heritage, historiography, social housing, values, historic preservation criteria.