Porto Alegre public market and eclectic architecture

from African matrix protection to psychosocial control

Abstract

This study employs a historical-critical approach to examine the experiences of Porto Alegre citizens regarding the structural changes and instrumentalizations of psychosocial control during the 1910s and 1920s, with a particular focus on the Public Market (PM). The objective is to elucidate the way the market structure operated as a mechanism of cultural security and psychosocial control over individuals engaged in the consumption of goods and services. The investigation considers the
context in which the devices of cultural security and architectural panoptic control were introduced, namely the various conceptions of security present in the PM. To interpret this historical architectural phenomenon, references such as "Porto Alegre, Arquitetura e Estilo - 1880 a 1930" by Bárbara Schäffer and "Vigiar e Punir" by Foucault are employed. Firstly, the building is described, along with the architectural origins of the PM's surroundings and the inclusion of the popular religiosity of Batuque gaúcho. Subsequently, the panoptic control system is reconstructed through an analysis of the architectural functions. Finally, the different forms of security in the context of the market are considered, namely cultural security and the panoptic function of control and policing, with particular reference to the renovations of the PM. The interdisciplinary research connects Social and Institutional Psychology with Architecture and Aesthetics, offering a current diagnosis of the PM's urban ecosystem.