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A structural nightmare haunts this Brazilian city! The box-shaped buildings, unsafe public housing, continue to collapse and claim lives.
In Pernambuco, the history of coffin buildings It is marked by tragedies and a warning about the consequences of irregular constructions that, decades after their construction, continue to pose risks to thousands of families.
According to a report by G1 portal, these buildings, which housed a significant part of the population of Greater Recife, became synonymous with insecurity and pain, especially after several collapses that left a trail of fatalities and irreparable damage.
The administrator Rosangela Costa, 60 years old, is one of the many victims of this nightmare.
In 1984, when the Seaside Complex, in Paulista, in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, was still under construction, she saw a unique opportunity to make her dream of owning her own home come true.
At the time, the market offered favorable conditions, such as no down payment and interest-free installments.
However, what seemed to be a life achievement soon turned into a torment, when what seemed to be an ideal home turned out to be a huge engineering error.
Rosângela bought one of the apartments located in a building that, today, is a tragic example of how the lack of supervision and rushed construction can lead to fatal consequences.
Second Luiz Fernando Bernhoeft, civil engineer of Regional Council of Engineering and Agronomy of Pernambuco (Crea-PE), the building was a “coffin building”, a construction designed in a completely irregular manner, which would not follow the minimum safety and durability standards.
Over the decades, these buildings began to show serious signs of fragility.
In 2023, at least 11% of the population of Greater Recife lived in buildings of this type.
These buildings, which did not comply with basic engineering standards, such as the use of beams, pillars and reinforced concrete, became an imminent risk.
Since the 1970s, Pernambuco saw the proliferation of this type of construction, driven by commercial interests, without the slightest concern for the safety of residents.
To this day, the problem has not been resolved. Even after the ban on coffin buildings in 2005, the population still lives with the remains of these irregular constructions, many of them abandoned or precariously occupied.
Residents and former residents are still waiting for compensation, but the feeling of helplessness is growing, as many know that the chances of being compensated for everything they have lost are minimal.
What are coffin buildings?
The history of coffin buildings is not unique to Pernambuco, but the state has certainly become one of the main examples of the consequences of poorly planned and executed constructions.
The lack of supervision, associated with the use of inappropriate materials and pressure from ceramics unions in the 1970s, accelerated the construction process of buildings with up to four floors, but without any type of structural safety.
What are coffin buildings, after all? These are constructions made without the use of reinforced concrete, beams or pillars.
The idea was to create buildings of “resistant masonry” which, without the essential materials to guarantee the safety of the structures, became unstable over time.
Hence the name “coffin building”: the simple, square shape without architectural details, which resembles a box, is the characteristic that stands out most in buildings of this typology.
The box shape and fragile structure are not the only problems, however.
A urban land policy of the time determined that buildings did not need elevators and, therefore, were limited to just four floors.
This made construction cheaper, but at the same time extremely vulnerable to structural damage..
The shape of the buildings favored the use of poor quality materials, such as poorly manufactured ceramics and other low-cost components.
These practices aimed to make the work financially viable., but ignored the security risks.
The current problem
One of the greatest examples of this tragedy is Muribeca Set, in Jaboatao dos Guararapes.
With 2.200 apartments, the residential complex, which was built in the 1980s, was closed in 2014 and demolished in 2020.
The problem was not exclusive to a single enterprise, but one systemic condition that affects thousands of people to this day.
Estimates indicate that, throughout Greater Recife, there are around 5.300 coffin buildings, many of which are at high risk of collapsing due to the precariousness of their structures.
Studies carried out by the Pernambuco Institute of Technology (ITEP) indicate that at least 226 properties are at very high risk of collapse, and another 2.120 are at high risk.
This occurs, in large part, due to the use of inadequate materials and constructions built directly on unstable soils, which further aggravates the problem as the years go by.
Tragedy and consequences
The consequences of these failures are not just theoretical.
Em August de 2023, the nightmare came true for the residents of Conjunto Beira-Mar.
Part of the building where Rosângela Costa lived collapsed, leading to the death of 14 people and leaving 21 others injured.
This tragedy, which could have been avoided if the buildings had followed basic technical standards, highlights the seriousness of the problem. and the urgent need for a solution to what is still a drama experienced by thousands of people from Pernambuco.
A sad reality of the victims and former residents is a constant in Pernambuco.
Like Rosângela Costa, many people bought their property with the hope of achieving stability and fulfilling the dream of owning their own home.
But this dream turned into a nightmare for those who lived for years in buildings constructed without the slightest concern for safety.
Many, like Rosângela, spent decades believing they were protected, but in the end they faced the harsh reality of a property that, instead of offering a home, ended up becoming a risk to their lives.
Solutions and actions
The solution to this problem requires more rigorous action of the competent bodies, in addition to greater awareness of the importance of following safety standards in housing projects.
Although the coffin buildings were banned almost 20 years ago, the legacy of this poorly constructed construction still haunts many families.
