History of the use and production of cement tiles in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

This paper studies the evolution of the production of cement tiles in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, focusing on the history of their use during the city s construction in the early twentieth century. The study draws on personal observation, semi-structured interviews and a review of historical archives as the principal sources of data. The results show that this type of floor and wall finish, made using traditional craft skills and a feature of the constructional heritage of Italian immigrants, was widely used in buildings from the early 20th century until the 1960s, when cement tiles were replaced by mass-produced ceramic products. At the turn of the twenty-first century the production and use of cement tiles have been revived, giving new meaning and new value to their use as a core element of the environment in which they were conceived.