As praças da área central do Rio de Janeiro: precedentes e presentes

Abstract

The squares of a city spatially represent an open environment, generally within the structure formed by streets, avenues, and buildings, as Lamas (2007) aptly summarized. Furthermore, from a symbolic point of view, squares are also the most complete record of the passage of time, of the superimposition of ideas, actions, and events – solemn and everyday – that engender the history of the city and its citizens. The public sense that remains in the many squares existing in cities is a common good that should be valued. Each city, in its time and place, offers a wide range of possibilities for knowledge. One can get to know a square occasionally and in passing, as well as systematically and with longer periods of stay. The square reveals itself and reveals a little of ourselves, of our memories and the memories that are shared.