The scope of this paper is to reflect upon the emergence and organization of territorial and administrative arrangements, qualified here as inspection gateway centers, for the control and screening of migrants at the moment of entry into Brazil. Between the reuse of existing forms (deposits, warehouses) in the first half of the nineteenth century and the invention of a new form (the inspection gateway center), in the late nineteenth century, long debates mobilizing various actors (in the political, economic, and medical world) revolved around various questions. What is the most appropriate spatial and architectural form for temporary shelter? How to enhance the waiting time to carry out administrative and health controls, making it possible to define the desirable immigrant?
reception accommodation; immigrants; inspection gateway centers; Brazil