This study analyzes, in the perspective of cultural history (Burke 2005; Chartier 1990; Dosse 2003) and of school culture (Chervel 1988; Julia, 2001; Viñao 2002), the first buildings destined to public primary schools in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, during the First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930). It understands the school spaces, especially the school architecture (Braster; Grosvenor; Pozo 2011; Burke and Grosvenor 2008; Escolano 1993-94, 1998, 2000, 2003; Chatelet 2003, 2006; Silva, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2015; Viñao 1993-94, 1996, 1998, 2005), as an active element of the school curriculum, representing the desired model of education in a certain historical period. The main purpose of this study is to problematize the physical and symbolic project concerning the construction of modern childhood through the school architecture, which was aligned with the ideal of North American and European (especially French) ideals of civility. It problematizes the bipolarity between peoples that are considered “advanced” versus the ones that are categorized as “backward”, over all concerning a colonial past that should supposedly have been left behind, in order to follow the paths of the countries that are considered the “developed” ones. Therefore, it aims at identifying the graduated school model and the school buildings designed for primary schools, in this local context, analyzing qualitatively the reports from the Direction of Public Instruction and the Direction of Public Works, as well as the pictorial files elaborated by the government of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1899 and 1930. The study carries through a cartography of the descriptions, projects, plants and photographs of the public school buildings, identifying elements that were present in different countries, such as: choice of the land in the urban layout, footage per pupil, rooms for different levels of education and activities, school museum, administrative rooms, housing for teachers, number of openings enough for air and light penetration, solar position, space for physical and outdoor activities, restrooms, among others. Concerning the constructed buildings, it was possible to identify a total of nine institutions for primary education, which presented distinct characteristics, that is, some were monumental and richly decorated, in a neoclassic architectural style, and others, of reduced ratios and with simple façades. In general terms, the study evidenced that the discursive interlocution between international models and the local context were aligned to the ideal of superiority of other countries' primary public schools. The past of society and of the colonial (1500-1822) and imperial (1822-1889) education, considered backward and uncultured, should yield space for an integral (intellectual, moral and physical), graduated and hygienic formation, which is a distant reality from most cities within the Latin America context.