The peripheral spontaneous design of Brazil and Cuba in Latin America

Abstract

This article compares, through literature review, the relationship that Cuba and Brazil maintain with their spontaneous peripheral design, that is, with the material production intuitively created by their populations in response to the lack of resources. In a descriptive and explanatory way, we analyze the popularization in Cuban society of what Ernesto Oroza called "technological disobedience": the disrespect for the “aura of indivisibility” of industrial products since the crisis of the 1990s. Next, by comparative method, we contrast this approach with the Brazilian view of the so-called gambiarra, which is a subject to stigmatization by the hegemonic culture, despite being perceived in Brazil as an establishment of national culture. By observing the convergences and divergences between these phenomena, the study shows that it is possible to understand how they relate to the socio-cultural characteristics of the Latin American scenarios from which they emerge. As a result, we infer that the distinct Cuban and Brazilian environments explain the discrepancy in the reception of these manifestations in their respective societies. Finally, we perceive such manifestations as references of design practices from the Global South with the potential to catalyze social changes since they seek emancipation, essentially.