Book tells the history of Rio de Janeiro through architecture

With more than 700 entries and 400 photos, most of them taken by Cesar Barreto, the Rio de Janeiro Architecture Guide , published by Bazar do Tempo, invites the reader to not only read a history of the city's construction, but also to venture out and get to know Rio’s most important icons and landmarks in depth.

The publication, with more than 500 pages, portrays the growth of Rio, from 1565, its founding date, to the last refuge of its current expansion, the West Zone. It also presents a visitor route, with detailed information about each of the real estate and other assets covered.

Divided into 27 regions, the chapters follow the path of the city's expansion, presenting a complete technical file, which provides the address, date of construction and renovations, name of the architects responsible, and whether the property is listed or not. All of this was organized in more than 400 photos taken, most of them by photographer Cesar Barreto, in addition to shots by Amércio Vermelho, historical archives and other collaborators.

Among the highlighted icons are the Church and Monastery of São Bento, the Gustavo Capanema Palace, Flamengo Park, among others.

The favela receives an essay signed by the architect and professor at UFRJ, Flávio Ferreira, in which this style of housing conglomerate that has become part, not only of urbanization, but also of the city's culture, is analyzed.

The content was developed by a content board formed by Farès El-Dahdah, professor and director of the Humanities Research Center at Rice University, in Houston; Gustavo Rocha Peixoto, full professor at UFRJ and specialist in Imperial architecture; Marcos Moraes de Sá , architect and specialist in colonial architecture; Carlos Eduardo Comas, architect and full professor at UFRGS; Mozart Vitor Serra, economist and urban planner; Cláudia Carvalho, chief architect at Casa de Rui Barbosa and Cláudia Brack, architect and urban planner and Landscaping Manager at Parks and Gardens Foundation. Content coordination is by Maria Helena Salomom, architect for the Rio de Janeiro city government.

“We started from where the city was born and tried to follow its development. In other words: wherever it grew, we followed it,” says editor Ana Cecilia Impellizieri Martins, from Bazar do Tempo.

The project is sponsored by the city of Rio de Janeiro, through the Program for the Promotion of Carioca Culture, of the Municipal Secretariat of Culture and will be launched in two editions, one in Portuguese and one in English, on August 3 , starting at 7pm , at the Travessa Leblon bookstore (Av. Afrânio de Melo Franco, 290 - store 205 A).