Rescue, valuation, education and documentation of heritage through sketches

Abstract

Since prehistory, we can identify drawing and painting as a form of representation and recording of history. Drawings and paintings were the only way to capture a moment in history, customs, fauna and flora of a place, as presented by several naturalists around the world.In Brazil in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, some exponents of these naturalists, such as Jean Baptiste Debre, William John Burchell, Johann Moritz Rugendas, among others represented the most important cities in Brazil, such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and explored the jungle, rivers and reached villages and towns in the interior, recording times, documenting them for the present and future. Today, contemporary street designers represent cities and at the same time they approach and / or reconnect with the heritage of their cities through drawings On the other hand, many people, due to their daily routine, fail to know the city’s heritage, which makes the population forget its history and this forgetfulness leads to the neglect of its heritage. In this sense, this study starts from the hypothesis that sketches are a form of rescue, valorization, as well as documentation of architectural and urban heritage, contributing to the awareness of a cultural heritage and heritage education. In this sense, the general objective of this work is to identify if urban sketches are a way of rescuing, valuing and documenting architectural and urban heritage and if they contribute to heritage education. The applied methodology was the survey of the theoretical framework about the patrimony, documentation and valuation; survey of the drawings’ naturalists from the past, of Frans Post, José Joaquim Freire, Joaquim Jose Codina, Jean-Baptiste Debret and the sketches of contemporary street designers; a questionnaire applied to all of Brazil, through Google Forms, remotely and online, mainly to street designers, on the theme of design and the appreciation of material and cultural heritage; systematization of the questionnaire, presentation of results and discussion. The results showed that 102 of the 104 respondents to the questionnaire believe that the drawings or sketches rescue and value the material and cultural, architectural and urban heritage. Thus, the objective was met and the hypothesis proved, that sketches are a way of rescuing, valuing and documenting architectural and urban heritage, contributing to heritage education.