THE REUSE AS A FACTOR FOR THE HERITAGE BUILDINGS CONSERVATION IN RIO DE JANEIRO DOWNTOWN

The adequacy of the historic buildings to new demands of use and technologies, without mischaracterize them, is a recurrent issue in the modernization of cultural heritage buildings. Either by the extinction of the original use or the inability of the old building respond to the new necessities of use, in re-use should always be analyzed the typological vocations of the building. Each building is related to an architectural typology and their possibilities of uses are limited. This article aims to collaborate in the debate about the choices of use in rehabilitation of the heritage buildings that must be designed to maintain the identity of the cultural heritage. We must consider that historic buildings save as analysis 'documents' and are able to help conserve the collective memory, the testimony of history and the society that produced them. Analyzing some modernizations of cultural heritage buildings in Rio de Janeiro downtown, we realize that they are being used in a derogatory manner, preserving only their facades while the internal physical characteristics are highly changed. This usually happens because of the new use and the economic value of the area. With base in analysis of the relationships that the building has with use program, and checking the possibilities of adapting the use in to the heritage building, we conclude that the conservation of heritage buildings depends on the choice of a compatible use with the typological vocation, to guarantee the integrity of their values and physical consistence.