Origin and situation of some squares of railway stations

Abstract

The squares originated in Brazil in the colonial period are frequently associated with administrative or religious. However, with the implementation of railways, this model underwent transformations and gardens began to be constructed in front of Railway Stations, as public squares. Nevertheless, the records of origins, histories, and factors involved in creating such spaces, as well as their evolution, are not enough known. Therefore, the objective was to understand their evolution by identifying the characteristics, highlighting the urban and landscape aspects that these gardens presented from their emergence until the present, using as a model four cases from cities in the state of Minas Gerais. The research was centered between the 19th century until nowadays, and the method applied was an interface between inventive and subjective analyses, associated with a bibliographical and iconographic survey, in addition to interviews. In all the analyzed situations, the gardens complemented, besides the station itself, buildings of eclectic architecture, where commercial, industrial activities and structures of support to the railroad operated. It was found that the gardens were built in these spaces mainly to provide a good aesthetic impression of the city for visitors that arrive through the railway. Although these gardens were references to the city where they were implanted, most of these spaces transformed over time, considering their uses and aspects, breaking the strong relationship between space and building.