A fugaz paisagem industrial: o desmonte de vilas e núcleos operários no Brasil

This study analyzed the disassemble of working villages and company towns related to Brazilian factories and mining and timber companies, deeming it the end of the work management system based on the provision of housing by employers, generally linked to services such as schools, health center, club, etc. It shows how disassemble usually lasts for several years and is linked to often combined phenomena, including the closure of company activities, the change of owners or locations, the need to expand production areas, the valorization of land occupied by residential complexes, changes in production that involve demobilization of labor, and labor agreements. It emphasizes signs of discredit of the “working village” model in the 1950s, widespread sale of houses from the 1960s onward, and the acceleration and expansion of disassemble from the 1980s onward in a context of outsourcing of production segments, privatization of public companies, and widespread factory closures. Regarding the fate of buildings, it shows how disassemble can often simultaneously involve sale, rental, demolition, change of use, or abandonment to ruin. Regarding the fate of residential complexes, it shows how disassemble can remodel (sometimes associated with the conversion of a company town into a municipality or neighborhood), preserve, or destroy them (disappearance of buildings, land subdivision, and infrastructure).