GRAÇA SQUARE IN SALVADOR – BA: A “NEW” PERCEPTION

• Main Author: Denise Silva Magalhães
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Federal da Bahia 2012-07-01
• Series: GeoTextos
• Subjects: bairro da graça, largo da graça, praça dr. paterson, espaço público, espaço aberto / graça district; graça square; dr. paterson square; public space; open space.
• Online Access: https://periodicos.ufba.br/index.php/geotextos/article/view/6218

The experience undertaken along an empirical work at Largo da Graça (Graça Square), in Salvador, Bahia, motivated this article which presents a deep study with new researches, local visits, interviews and pictures, as a reality direct observation technique. But, which method to adopt in order to learn the essence of the studied space? Following a thought by Júlia Adão Bernardes, I strayed without a trail, expecting to have trailed it at the end of the work. The activities were systematized and rationalized in order to lead to a valid knowledge of the area; I proceeded the investigations and analysis of the facts, processes and institutions of the past, which interacted with the qualitative interviews on the local workers, inhabitants and visitors everyday life. My perception of the Largo da Graça has changed from a simply perceived to a lived space, a differentiated public space, through its concreteness and the daily practices and social dynamics there occurring.