Linha consulta’s church: a work resulting from the local history

Abstract

The colonisation process in Brazil severely changed the culture, people, customs, references and the way of thinking and constructing throughout its territory. This issue is because immigrants brought with them a cultural and architectural background quite different from the peoples that inhabited the country before European colonisation. In the state of Santa Catarina, it is a fact that the construction of the railway (São Paulo - Rio Grande) boosted investments, in a particular way, linked to the sale of land to the colonists and the exploration of the raw material in all its extension. Brazilian pine and imbuia wood were used on a large scale, and most of the buildings and architectural works in southern Brazil were produced with this material, which became part of Santa Catarina’s architectural culture. In this context, the article’s goal is to analyse the architecture of Linha Consulta’s church, based on the study of its elements and relating it both with the construction of the railway and the Contestado War, as with the construction of wooden buildings in the region. The methodology used had a qualitative approach, as it presents data collection in a varied manner, thus seeking to focus on the object of study covering its historical character. The methods used have an exploratory character, as they provide greater familiarity with the problem, involving research on 1) a survey of theoretical references from bibliographic data; 2) interviews with the residents of Salto Veloso (SC), where the church is located, and 3) its builders; and case study analysis. This study showed that the construction of the railroad made possible the distribution of raw materials, as well as the coming of the labour of European colonisation so that constructions could be carried out, among them the Church of Linha Consulta. Without the train, distances would be the primary inhibitor of the spread of inputs by the state.