ABSTRACT
Recife is a city where the conflict between the modernity, symbolised by new skyscrapers, and the preservation of ancient buildings can be well observed, what becomes even more explicit in the study of Recife’s neighbourhood of Casa Forte, from the decade of 1990 until the present.
This article analyses the context of the emergence of the Law 16.284/1997 and its results from the analysis of four protected Isolated Buildings of Significant Architecture—IBSA in the Casa Forte Square, that were the object of real estate development in the remaining area of their lot.
Although the Law 16.284/1997 preserves the building without its ambience, scale and urban context, it was the legal instrument that was possible in the economic and political environment at the time the law was approved.
The evidence from the IBSAs analysed raises the need of adjustments and the opportunity of improvements in the IBSA legislation to ensure at least the integrity of the IBSA volume and roof, a minimal distance from the new high-rises to the preserved buildings and better access to the IBSA.
