The subject of slaves' living quarters has been under the scrutiny of the historiography around Slavery in the Americas for a good while. The debate decades has revolved in the last few around the discussion on the slaves' autonomy and the master's control in the construction of such spaces, focusing in particular on the investigation of the African matrices present in the rural dwelling spaces built by the captives. I examine, in the article, the historic novelty represented by two specific types of dwelling spaces that emerged after the second quarter of the 19 th century: the patio shed of the Cuban Sugar Belt (in the region of Matanzas-Cárdenas-Cienfuegos) and the square senzala of the river Paraíba Valley coffee region (in the Mid-Southern region of the Brazilian Empire). The text demonstrates that there has been a historic articulation between these two architectural arrangements, and that it is related with the appropriation of certain slave trade practices in African territory.
Slave Housing; Plantations; Transatlantic Slave Trade; Social Control; Cuba; Brazil
