Gourmet spaces in Brazilian homes: children of a “pregnant widow”?

Abstract

This article addresses the so-called “gourmet” space as protagonist of a new social sphere that acts as a locus of ostentation in middle- and upper-class Brazilian homes. Three types of contemporary dwellings, found in the Northeast region of the country were analysed in their morphological properties – spatial configuration, visibility fields, geometric and topological aspects in order to understand  how they might relate to changing ways of life in the dwelling. The study carried out was based on the literature on Brazilian homes, focusing on the relationship between leisure spaces and the general spatial arrangement, and on the Space Syntax theory and analysis tools. The results show that the gourmet space is increasingly present in the examined homes, as an affirmation of leisure - of a desired showroom scenery, which combines cooking and reception, in a direction contrary to the segregation historically established in service-related  spheres, , given  its visibility and ostentation  as a new way of receiving. A movement that begins with the integration of the kitchen into the social sphere, to become itself, mediated by the persona of the gourmet, the social locus itself.