School architectural standards and the expansion of Elementary School in the beginning of the twentieth century in Brazil

Abstract This paper aims to describe the transformation that took place in the physical space of elementary schools in Brazil, within the initial period of expanding access to basic education, which occurred between the years 1930 to 1940.  Through the historical - descriptive approach, it was sought to demonstrate that the school's architectural projects have materialized constituent aspects of current educational policies in the indicated periods. Based on a bibliographic research of historical framework, it was approached  the emergence of new planning guidelines in state bodies and, the configuration of the Brazilian school architecture in accordance with the modernizing discourse of the period. Were sought the transformations of architectural models and the orientation change of planning bodies, which have used functionalist concepts from the architecture of modern movement for the construction of school buildings, following modular construction principles, prefabrication and despoliation of all ornamentation. Having as reference the modifications in planning guidelines and, how the school physical network has been configured, it was identified that the expansion of the physical network followed the parameter of public spending rationalization. This factor corroborated with the massive access, occasioning the adoption of standardized architectural solutions, impoverishment and precariousness of physical structure of Brazilian public schools. Keywords: School Architecture. Educational Policy. Expansion of physical school network. Padroes arquitetonicos escolares e expansao do Ensino Fundamental no inicio do seculo XX no Brasil Resumo O artigo propoe descrever a transformacao ocorrida no espaco fisico das escolas de ensino fundamental no Brasil, no periodo inicial da expansao do acesso a educacao basica, ocorrida entre os anos 1930 a 1940. Procurou-se, por meio da abordagem historico-descritiva, demonstrar que os projetos arquitetonicos escolares materializaram aspectos constitutivos das politicas educacionais vigentes nos periodos indicados. Abordou-se, com base na pesquisa bibliografica de aporte historico, a emergencia de novas diretrizes de planejamento nos orgaos estatais e a configuracao da arquitetura escolar brasileira em conformidade com o discurso modernizador do periodo. Perseguiu-se as transformacoes dos modelos arquitetonicos e a mudanca de orientacao dos orgaos de planejamento, os quais utilizaram-se de conceitos funcionalistas da arquitetura do movimento moderno para a construcao dos predios escolares, seguindo principios construtivos modulares, pre-fabricacao e despojamento de toda ornamentacao. Tendo como referencia as modificacoes nas diretrizes de planejamento e a forma como configurou-se a rede fisica escolar, identificou-se que a expansao da rede fisica seguiu o parâmetro de racionalizacao do gasto publico. Esse fator corroborou para a massificacao do acesso, ocasionou a adocao de solucoes arquitetonicas padronizadas, o empobrecimento e a precarizacao da estrutura fisica das escolas publicas brasileiras. Palavras-chave: Arquitetura escolar. Politica educacional. Expansao da rede fisica escolar.