Prédios "neoclássicos" no espaço residencial das elites de São Paulo¹

Based on interviews with various professionals (engineers, contractors, architects, landscapers and real estate agents) involved in the production of the so-called "neoclassical" buildings in the elite residential neighborhoods of São Paulo, on promotional material (architectural criticism, advertising brochures and websites of construction companies and realtors) that disseminate this residential model, and on bibliographical sources for architectural historicism, this article examines some sociocultural elements underlying this controversial predilection. Analyses of statements made by agents endowed with social power to build suggest that if, on the one hand, this type of housing occupies a dominant position from the viewpoint of market hierarchy, on the other hand, it occupies a dominated position in terms of symbolic recognition.

keywords:
Taste; Domestic architecture; Historicism; Distinction; Elites; São Paulo.