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This documentary holding includes the iconography generated by Public Authorities when recording the transformations in the urban space of Rio de Janeiro in the first half of the 20th century. The representations of the modus operandi of the local powers in the then Federal Capital are illustrated, especially in terms of the conceptions of modernization of public space.

The photographic records permit to identify and reflect upon the political and social forces in dispute, based on the successive interventions that the city went through. These transformations were characterized by a structure shared with other cities in Latin America, as can be seen in cities that underwent urban renewal in the same period, such as Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Caracas and Mexico City. There is a great similarity in the sense of reconfiguration of central areas, following Haussmann's French inspiration, often under the auspices of an authoritarian State, to different degrees. Therefore, monumentality, demarcated as public policy, can be glimpsed in these different moments and places of authoritarian modernization. Furthermore, beyond the testimonial nature of each set of images, the physical media also serve as evidence of the technical transformations of photography during the same period of time.