Anatomia de um quarto. O lugar da empregada doméstica no Brasil, na França e em Portugal

Abstract

By expressing the ambiguity of a marginalized internalization, the rooms designated for domestic workers occupy a singular position within the home. Acting as catalysts for power relations, they emphasize the inequalities and hierarchies inscribed within four walls. Starting from these observations, this dissertation investigates the spaces reserved for domestic workers in three distinct contexts: the maid's room in Brazil, the chambre de bonne in France, and its variant in Portugal. Grounded in a critical reflection on the relationship between architecture, labor, and social inequality, we aim to trace a historical and analytical path that highlights the presence and transformations of this space. First, we examine the Brazilian case, where the quarto de empregada is analyzed from its colonial roots to its manifestations in modern and contemporary architecture, with particular attention to the changes that have accompanied its trajectory. Next, the investigation turns to France, where we explore the chambre de bonne in Paris - from its origin as a space intended for domestic workers to its current forms of occupation. We consider its role in the urban housing fabric and the dynamics that account for its persistence amid shifting social and architectural landscapes. In the third part, the research moves to the Portuguese context. By identifying and analyzing the spaces assigned to domestic workers, we observe their specificities and the organizational forms that engage in dialogue with the models found in the other two contexts. Finally, we present a comparative analysis of the three cases, discussing points of convergence and divergence in order to shed light on possible forms of segregation that, emerging from or reinforced by this room, shape social structures within the domestic space.