Luís Saia e as teorias de restauro

In 1939, architect Luís Saia (Brazil 1911-1975) began in Brazil the first complete restorations of buildings: constructions in pylon mud, rare remnants of the 17th century and early 18th century in the State of São Paulo. His achievements in this field between 1937 and 1975 have marks of "reconstructive restoration". Saia stood out at the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN, created in 1937) for his theoretical and methodological rigor, global and critical vision and his dedication to historical studies. In the exercise of his activities as head of the São Paulo regional office of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service (SPHAN), he was one of the fundamental characters for the practice of preservation in Brazil, especially the heritage linked to the colonial and coffee periods. In this book, while performing a critical reinterpretation of the interventions carried out, author Camila Corsi Ferreira verifies the existence of references to theoretical texts on restoration, such as the Letter of Athens (1931) and the Letter of Venice (1964). In this perspective, she assesses the presence of possible dialogues between European restoration theories, which served as a basis for the preparation of heritage maps, and the restoration interventions undertaken by the architect.