A history under construction: Manguinhos-Maré in the present time

Abstract The two first decades of the twenty-first century were representative of the contemporary history of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) and demonstrated its active role in the national health scenario. This article discusses the spatial transformations that took place in the territory occupied by the foundation from the year 2000 onward. The transformations in the use of this territory and it’s institutional policy within the national context are described, along with the social demands that have impacted the institution, namely large-scale urban transformations and pandemics. This research uses the premises of the history of the present to investigate the changes that took place on the Manguinhos-Maré campus and in the discourse of the institutions involved in managing and planning these changes through analysis of institutional reports, digital mapping, and aerial images.