Grid Plan New Towns in the Brazilian Coffee Frontier

摘要

The choice of the grid as a support for urban form composition is a strategy that has been applied in many situations throughout the world. Similarly, the meanings assigned to these orthogonal urban plans have featured distinct and often conflicting positions. This article explores the creative use of the grid in almost 100 new towns in the last Brazilian coffee frontier in the early twentieth century, and also contributes to a discussion about its potential in urban design. By assuming infinite configurations, the grid plan is an example of human inventiveness sometimes neglected for economic reasons and prejudices.