GEOGRAPHY(IES) OF THE STILT HOUSE(S)

spatialities, housing precariousness and living among urban stilt houses in Manaus (AM)

Abstract

The occupation of urban streams is a key element for understanding the production processes of the city of Manaus (AM). Starting from broader historical aspects, it was sought to point out characteristics of this housing typology and its geographical basis in the urban space from Manaus (AM) and the stilt houses. The objective of this work is to present geographic aspects of urban stilt houses from the case of Manaus-AM. Specifically, it seeks to (1) analyze the historical transformations from the past to the present, through the insertion of these houses in the urban area and (2) identify the residents’ personal experiences as houses of the possible-to-inhabit in the city-nature relationship. As procedures, the reflections are presented based on a bibliographical review, in addition to field work in an area of stilt houses in the Educandos neighborhood, to which observations and interviews were used with attention to the social production of these houses. The manifestation of “stilt-housification” is a socio-spatial process due to the geographical content to which the stilt houses have their genesis and continuity through interstitial spaces. It was found that the stilt housing experience is unique due to the fact that it is in an area bordering water and land and this uniqueness is translated into the intervention of the waters impacting the house and life. Stilt houses, as an expression of culture, are also a social product that reveal the contradictions of living in Manaus' urban space.