Pilar: a housing nucleus for the mining industry in the Bahian caatinga

Abstract

The economic impulse of the 1970s and the rise of urban planning fomented the creation of housing nuclei in a predominant mining scenario, causing the dispersion of capital and labor across Brazil. Such settlements arose under the tutelage of mining companies, and some managed to become independent. On one hand the exploitation of the ores was the propeller of the emergence of urban centers, which supported the mining activities at the countryside. On the other hand its failure or end sealed and traced the destiny of several localities. Pilar, currently a district of Jaguarari, is situated in Vale do Curaçá, in the Bahian Caatinga. Pilar was designed to house the workers involved in the extraction of copper by Mineração Caraíba S/A, which hired the team of the architect Joaquim Guedes to develop the project Núcleo Residencial do Pilar, in the late 1970s. The objective of this work is to discuss the creation and history of Pilar, analyzing its architectural and urbanistic conformation as an urban nucleus emerged as a support for copper exploration activities, and appreciating the importance of preserving this industrial heritage.