Art Deco Standard Schools in Rio Grande do Sul: the relationship between architecture, education, and politics

Abstract

The project of schools built following the Art Deco architectural style, which were built between the 1930s and 1940s in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, intended, starting from the characteristics of the built environment, to transmit the ideals of the authoritarian government of Getúlio Vargas, during the New State (Estado Novo) period. Given architectural, political, and educational requirements, the formal and functional aspects of these establishments focused on controlling student behavior and exalting State power, as a symbol of progress and order. The purpose of this work is to identify how the schools built following the Art Deco style acted as an ideological instrument of the State, through bibliographical and document analysis, and an observation of the built environment, together with a case study made at the Assis State Education Institute, Brazil, located in the south of the country in the city of Pelotas/RS. Through this analysis, it was seen that the integrated school construction, political practices, and teaching methods, grouped and guided students towards a State-proposed ideal model.