The colonial architecture of Brazil is defined as the architecture carried out in the current Brazilian territory from 1500, the year of the Portuguese arrival, until its Independence, in 1822.
During the colonial period, the colonizers imported European stylistic currents to the colony, adapting them to the local material and socioeconomic conditions. Colonial buildings with Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical architectural traits can be found in Brazil, but the transition between styles took place progressively over the centuries, and the classification of the periods and artistic styles of colonial Brazil is a matter of debate among specialists.
The importance of the colonial architectural and artistic legacy in Brazil is attested by the ensembles and monuments of this origin that have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. These are the historic centers of Ouro Preto, Olinda, Salvador, São Luís do Maranhão, Diamantina, Goiás Velho, the Ruins of the Guarani Jesuit Missions in São Miguel das Missões, the Bom Jesus de Matosinhos Sanctuary in Congonhas, and São Francisco Square in São Cristóvão. There are also the historical centers that, although they have not been recognized as World Heritage Sites, still have important monuments from that period, such as Recife, Rio de Janeiro, and Mariana. Especially in the case of Recife, the demolition and decharacterization of most of the historic buildings and the colonial urban layout were decisive for the non-recognition.
Colonial settlements and urbanism
Architectural activity in colonial Brazil began in the 1530s, when colonization gains momentum with the creation of the Captaincies of Brazil (1534) and the foundation of the first villages, such as Igarassu and Olinda, founded by Duarte Coelho around 1535, and São Vicente founded by Martim Afonso de Sousa in 1532. Later, in 1549, the city of Salvador was founded by Tomé de Sousa as the seat of the General-Government. The architect brought in by Tomé de Sousa, Luís Dias, then designs the capital of the colony, including the governor's palace, churches and the first streets, squares and houses, in addition to the indispensable fortification around the settlement.
The noblest part of the city of Salvador, which included rammed earth buildings such as the governor's palace, residences and most of the churches and convents, was built on high ground, 70 meters above the beach level; while, by the bay, the infrastructure dedicated to commercial activities was built. Other cities founded in the 16th century, such as Olinda (1535) and Rio de Janeiro (1565), are characterized by having been founded near the sea but on land elevations, dividing the settlement into a high town and a low town. In general, the upper town was home to the residential and administrative areas and the lower part to the commercial and port areas, resembling the organization of the main Portuguese cities, such as Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra, from ancient and medieval times. This arrangement obeyed defense considerations, since in the early days the colonial settlements were at constant risk of attacks from indigenous peoples and Europeans from other nations. In fact, almost all the first settlements founded by the Portuguese had walls, palisades, bastions, and gates that controlled access to the interior.
Colonial urbanism in Brazil was often characterized by the adaptation of the layout of streets, squares and walls to the relief of the terrain and position of important buildings such as convents and churches. Although they did not follow the rigid checkerboard pattern of Spanish foundations in the New World, many colonial cities, starting with Olinda and Salvador, are now considered to have had their streets laid out with relative regularity. During the period of the Iberian Union (1580–1640), cities founded in Brazil had greater regularity, as is the case of Felipeia da Paraíba (now João Pessoa), founded in 1585, and São Luís do Maranhão, laid out in 1615 by Francisco Frias de Mesquita, with the trend towards regularity of urban center layouts increasing throughout the 17th century. Also noteworthy are the great urbanistic works carried out in Recife during the government of Count John Maurice of Nassau (1637–1643), who, with the embankment and construction of bridges, canals, and forts, transformed the old port of Olinda into a city.
A determining aspect of colonial urbanism was the establishment of churches and convents. Often the construction of religious buildings was accompanied by the creation of a churchyard or a square next to the building, as well as a network of access streets, organizing the urban space. In Salvador, for example, the construction of the Jesuit College in the 16th century, outside the city walls, gave rise to the Terreiro de Jesus Square and made the area a pole of expansion of the city. Another notable example of colonial urban space is the Pátio de São Pedro, which arose from the construction of the São Pedro dos Clérigos Co-Cathedral in Recife (after 1728). In Rio de Janeiro, the main colonial street, Direita Street (currently Primeiro de Março Street), arose as a connection between the Morro do Castelo, where the city was founded, and the São Bento Monastery, located on the hill of the same name. Another important aspect was the establishment of religious monuments in high places, sometimes preceded by staircases, which created scenographic landscapes with a strong baroque character. In Rio, for example, many monasteries and churches were built on hills, with their facades facing the sea, offering a magnificent setting for travelers entering Guanabara Bay. The privileged relationship between topography and churches is also striking in the cities of Minas Gerais, especially Ouro Preto and the Congonhas Sanctuary. In the latter, the pilgrimage church is located on top of a hill, preceded by a set of chapels with the Via Sacra and a staircase decorated with statues of prophets.
In the 18th century, reforms carried out by the government of the Marquis of Pombal, linked in part to the need to occupy the limits with Spanish America, led to a greater presence of military engineers in the colony and to the foundation of several planned vilas, in which the places for administrative buildings, churches, and symbols of public power were planned. Thus, during the 18th century, many villages were created with planned urbanism in the current states of Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Roraima, Amazonas and others. Moreover, in some places common facade patterns for buildings were adopted with the aim of creating a harmonious urban ensemble, as observed in the lower city of Salvador in the mid-eighteenth century. In Minas Gerais, where the gold rush favored the rapid growth of villages in hilly terrain without any planning, there were also some important urbanistic interventions. The layout of the city of Mariana, located on relatively flat terrain, was regularly remodeled in 1745 by José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim. At the same time, several houses were demolished in downtown Ouro Preto for the creation of a monumental square, today known as Tiradentes Square, where the City Council House and the Governor's Palace were built. Urban improvements were more frequent as colonization advanced. In Salvador, major landfills in the 18th century allowed the development of the lower city, previously restricted to a narrow strip of land. In Rio de Janeiro, lagoons and swamps were filled in to allow expansion and improve the salubrity of the city.
Also in Rio was built perhaps the largest infrastructure work in colonial Brazil: the Carioca Aqueduct, definitively inaugurated in 1750. The aqueduct brought water from the river of the same name to the city center, feeding several fountains, some of which still exist. One of them was located in Paço Square (now 15 November Square), urbanized in the early 1740s by José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim in the image of Lisbon's Ribeira Square. The square's pier would later gain a monumental fountain, designed by Mestre Valentim and completed in 1789.
Rio de Janeiro, capital of the colony since 1767, was the main focus of urban interventions between the 18th and 19th centuries. The most important was the creation of the Passeio Público between 1789 and 1793. The design of the park, executed according to a project by Mestre Valentim, included geometric tree-lined boulevards, fountains and statues. To build the park required a major urban intervention, with the destruction of a hill and the embankment of a pond. Later, with the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in 1808, Rio also gained the Botanical Garden, the first in Colonial Brazil.
Architects
Those responsible for the architectural designs (riscos) of the colony remained largely anonymous, even in the case of some large convents and churches. Among the known authors, there are religious and many military engineers, the latter with solid theoretical knowledge of architecture. Others had more practical knowledge, such as master builders, master stonemasons and carpenters.
Religious orders such as the Jesuits, Benedictines, Franciscans and Carmelites, among the first to settle in Brazil, had notable architects and builders in their ranks, and with them began a great tradition of increasingly rich and imposing religious buildings. For example, the Jesuit architect Francisco Dias, who had worked on the construction of the Jesuit church in Lisbon, arrived in Brazil in 1577. He worked on the Graça Church in Olinda (his only design still standing), and built the Jesuit colleges in Rio de Janeiro, Santos, and others. Another important religious architect was Friar Macário de São João, a Benedictine to whom are attributed the 17th century designs of the churches of the São Bento Monastery and the Misericórdia of Salvador, among others.
The military engineers were mostly Portuguese, with some of other nationalities, especially Italians in the service of Portugal. These engineers not only built forts, but were also responsible for delineating settlements and designing administrative buildings and even religious constructions. A prominent example in the 17th century was Francisco Frias de Mesquita, who was in Brazil between 1603 and 1635 and built several forts, delineated the city of São Luís do Maranhão (after 1615) and designed the church of the São Bento Monastery of Rio de Janeiro (1617).
Throughout the 18th century, Portuguese military engineers designed some of the most important works of colonial architecture. José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim, for example, designed in Rio de Janeiro the Imperial Palace, the Convent of Santa Teresa, urbanized the Paço Square and finished the work of the Carioca Aqueduct. In Minas Gerais, he designed the Governor's Palace in Ouro Preto and delineated the city of Mariana. In Rio, the Candelária Church was designed by Francisco João Roscio, another Portuguese military engineer. In Ouro Preto, Pedro Gomes Chaves designed the Nossa Senhora do Pilar Parish Church, while in Bahia, Manuel Cardoso de Saldanha designed the remarkable Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia Basilica, with an innovative plan and facade. Of course, Portuguese military engineers also built fortresses. In the south, for example, José da Silva Pais built an elaborate system of forts to defend the Santa Catarina Island.