Design como expressão da capacidade humana: estudo sobre os artefatos presentes na Quarta Colônia de imigração italiana, a partir de suas origens, particularidades e significados

Abstract

The following paper aimed at analyzing the artifacts brought in, made or acquired by the Italian immigrants, who settled in the region of Quarta Colônia, in the center of Rio Grande do Sul state, and how they were present in the lives of their descendants. For doing so, some questions about the following topics were considered: the characteristics that guided emigration in Italy, Italian immigration in Brazil and Rio Grande do Sul and the settlement in the region of Quarta Colônia; the understanding of the term culture , also linked to memory, identity, society, affectivity and design; the relations existing between the craftsmanship and the field of design; and the human evolutionary process, due to the technological transformations, the definition of artifact and its likeness, the types of artifacts developed in the Veneto region, Italy, besides the productive units that were settled in Rio Grande do Sul and the process of insertion of the designer in industry and commerce. From this theoretical base, a field research, which involved the testimonies of six interviewees, which were later described. Then, the research participants presented their collections and allowed photographic records to be made. This availability led to the cataloging and classification of more than 300 artifacts through the Standards of Science and Technique Inventories used by Portuguese museums and palaces. After this stage, the analysis of these artifacts occurred from the interpretative dimensions. Then, the results achieved presented the researched scenario, which enabled some discussion about the artifacts of the region and the surrounding circumstances.