Trade & engineering: inter-connections between Brazil and the United States by Ernesto Dias de Castro's trading house in São Paulo (1903 -1963)

Abstract

This research aims to understand the relations between Brazil and the United States by the construction materials commerce in both ways. The existing connections between the importing and exporting trade of these two countries, we intend to investigate the performances of the trading house, Ernesto de Castro & Cia. (1903-1963), managed by the engineer Ernesto Dias de Castro, which is related to the urbanization processes in the city of São Paulo. From a transnational historical perspective, we intend to analyze the companies that were connected to the civil construction materials store of Ernesto Dias de Castro. Another factor that analyses their connections is the Commercial Exhibitions that happened in some U.S. cities, like New York. This was a testing center for new technologies and a place that attracted many business owners from around the world to start distributing these new products in their stores. Understanding the development of the techniques employed in the construction sector will also help to comprehend the use of materials in engineering works in the city. Thus, the study of Portuguese immigration in the United States and its role in the engineering and urbanization of the New Bedford region and its connections in Brazil, directs us to the case study of the Engineering and Architecture Office of Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo, by the Portuguese engineer Ricardo Severo, connected to the business of Ernesto Dias de Castro, which was also founded in the construction commerce in São Paulo. (AU)