ENTRE O PERMANENTE E O EFÊMERO: a esplanada ferroviária de Campo Grande e suas múltiplas temporalidades e espacialidades

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the Esplanada Ferroviária in Campo Grande/MS as a space where memories, meanings, identities, and social dynamics are articulated through ephemeral materialities. Using a qualitative and ethnographic approach, it investigates how the notion of ephemeral architecture relates to the construction of collective memory and cultural identity in the city. Since the arrival of the railway, transient elements—such as temporary events, carnivals, and fleeting urban interventions—have shaped the social life of the area, offering insight into the role of ephemerality in contemporary urban experience. The methodology combines participant observation, field diaries, and interviews with residents, former railway workers, and regular visitors. Grounded in theoretical contributions from urban anthropology, including Augé’s concept of non-place and discussions on cultural heritage, the study explores how the Esplanada reflects the tension between permanence and transience, memory and oblivion. The research argues that even brief practices and ephemeral constructions play a decisive role in shaping social relations, mobilizing desires, identity expressions, and embodied experiences as art and movement. Thus, the Esplanada Ferroviária emerges as a cultural complex capable of housing and transforming individual and collective experiences in the context of supermodernity. The findings contribute to understanding how ephemeral architecture can shape urban organization and influence the production of collective memory.