ABSTRACT
This article analyzes issues related to the architectural restoration in 1980s Brazil, exploring examples published in various editions of Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional of that decade to verify the methods used to handle restoration problems and question the arguments related to these examples. Brazil still lacks studies that systematically treat the restorations made in the country during that period, although analyses of great interest concerning specific interventions exist. The purpose of this text is not to present systematically the preservation issues of that time, but to question some themes that Sphan (Secretaria do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, current Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional - Iphan) valued in its journal, especially two cases published there: the predominantly conservative proposal for the Ruins of São Miguel das Missões, and the intervention in the Imperial Palace of Rio de Janeiro, counterbalanced by other texts of the journal. For such, the approach to the theme will be initially explained. Then, the characteristics of Revista do Patrimônio in the 1980s will be presented. Afterwards, the articles about the Ruins of São Miguel and the Imperial Palace are analyzed and then counterbalanced with other articles that present different discourses around these cases and other approaches that appear in those issues of the journal. These articles deal with various preservation problems and add nuance on what was being discussed about restoration in that decade.
KEYWORDS:
Cultural heritage; Restoration; Revista do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional