In 2016, I partnered with Yayá Comunicação to lead the front-end development and digital implementation of the Livros do Tombo for the Mosteiro de São Bento da Bahia. This monastery, founded in 1582, is the first Benedictine cenobium in the Americas, and its documentary collection is a cornerstone of Brazilian history.

 

The project’s goal was to provide public and scholarly access to a massive documentary set spanning the 16th to the 20th century. These “Tumble Books” contain the original records of the formation of Salvador and the Benedictine heritage in Brazil. Given the collection’s UNESCO status, the digital platform needed to be as dignified and enduring as the physical manuscripts themselves.

 

Front-End Excellence with WordPress

I engineered a custom WordPress environment designed specifically to house thousands of digital folios. The challenge was to create a modern, clean interface that did not distract from the historical beauty of the manuscripts, ensuring a “museum-quality” digital experience.

 

Digital Book Implementation

A core part of my role was the technical architecture for the online book viewer. This involved:

• High-Resolution Rendering: Implementing a system to display high-quality scans of seculary documents while maintaining fast load times.
• Responsive Accessibility: Ensuring that historians and students could study these rare documents across all devices, from high-resolution desktop monitors to tablets.

 

My Role & Contributions

Lead Front-End Developer: Responsible for the entire visual and interactive layer of the platform, translating the historic significance into a modern web experience.

Agency Collaboration: Coordinated with Yayá Comunicação to ensure the technical execution aligned with the prestigious graphic design and historical context of the Mosteiro.