The São Vito Building: public power, the press and stigmatization

Abstract

Since the 1980s, various administrations at the São Paulo City Hall have contributed
to an urban project for Parque Dom Pedro II, inside which, on several occasions, the São Vito building has
become a public issue. This giant building of small apartments was built in the 1950s. It became established
as a place of residence for a low-income population, but was demolished in 2010. The building was generally
perceived as an irregular, dangerous occupation, whereas it was in fact inhabited mainly by owners and formal
tenants. The social construction of this stigma, contributed to by the local press, was fundamental in justifying
two public intervention attempts on the building, during the 1980s and 2000s. This relatively recent case, although already somewhat forgotten, demonstrates that notions often reproduced as “common sense” are in reality
carefully elaborated, incurring on the naturalization of ideas that are not consensual.