FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! AN EXHIBITION FOR COMMUNITY ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
Barraco # 55
BY BENJAMIN STOKKE & : a community based research and arts center for local cultural and social projects in the favela, Complexo do Alem達o, in Rio de Janeiro.
4.1.2. FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! AN EXHIBITION FOR COMMUNITY ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
Community and infrastructural development in the Favela should be inherently connected. Furthermore, designers operating in the informal context must engage in a dialogue with community throughout the planning process for development projects. As a method for understanding the community within Complexo do Alemão, I worked within an organization, Barraco55, a non-profit, non-government organization doing social and cultural projects within the community. Together, we held an exhibition for the community entitled, Favela! Voce Mesmo Faz! The rough translation in English is, “Favela, You made it yourself!” The intention of the exhibition was to celebrate the place while also focusing on how to develop public space in the area. I was interested in knowing how people in the area perceived development and what types of changes they would like to see take place in some of the open spaces along Rua da Assembléia. This road is the urban spine supporting circulation of vehicles and many business within the local sub-region of Complexo do Alemão called Alvorada. It is along Rua da Assembléia where I lived for three months working with Barraco55 and conducting research about the community and infrastructural development in the area. The exhibition itself consisted of two parts. The first part was informative. It was about communicating the history of the natural environment in Complexo do Alemão and the potential for reintroducing both the natural environment and urban agriculture into the spaces. Together, with a Dutch Urban planner, Manoe Ruhe, we created our own separate visions or schematics of how residual spaces in the area could be developed. This was seen as a way to show the community what potential there could be so as to get them thinking about possibilities. The second part, and most important, was concerned with gaining feedback from residents about how or what they would like to see in the future once the open, residual spaces along Rua Assemblia in Complexo do Alemão are developed. The exhibition was seen as a forum for the community to discuss development ideas. We created a model at the scale of 1:150 of the major road, Rua da Assembléia, and spaces adjacent to the Barraco55 organization’s exhibition and workspace. The model identified potential residual spaces for development. A feedback wall was located adjacent to the model where visitors had an opportunity to write/sketch their idea for a particular space along Rua da Assembléia or for the favela, Complexo do Alemão, in general.
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Complexo do Alem達o, Rio de Janiero
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PASSADO: PASSADO: 4.1.2.A. TODAY/YESTERDAY FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
As a part of the exhibition, I wanted to communicate the history of the natural environment in Complexo do Alemão to the community. I was informed early on by some community members that this place was once a lush forest prior to becoming the over-built dense jungle that populates the hillsides today. So I met with Alan Brum Pinheiro, the executive secretary for the Instituto Raízes em Movimento. The organization’s mission is, “to promote human, social and cultural development of the Complexo do Alemão and other communities through the participation of local actors as protagonists of these processes, focusing on the strengthening and expansion of social capital in these communities.” I was able to obtain a historical photo database from Alan that gave a sense of the presence of the natural environment as Complexo do Alemão was first being settled between the 1930’s-1950’s.
IGREJA SÃO SEBASTIAO
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
IGREJA SÃO SEBASTIAO
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
ESCOLA PARAGUAY, VISTA NORTE
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
ESCOLA PARAGUAY, VISTA NORTE
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
PAUVANA, VISTA SUL PAUVANA, VISTA SUL
INHAÚMA, VISTA NOROESTE INHAÚMA, VISTA NOROESTE
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FAVELA! VOCE MESMO FAZ!
INHAÚMA, VISTA OESTE
BONSUCESSO, MORRO ADEUS
INHAÚMA, VISTA OESTE
BONSUCESSO, MORRO ADEUS
HOJE: HOJE:
IGREJA SÃO SEBASTIAO
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
IGREJA SÃO SEBASTIAO
GROTA, VISTA OESTE
TODAY>>>>>
ESCOLA PARAGUAY, VISTA NORTE
ADEUS, VISTA ESTE
ESCOLA PARAGUAY, VISTA NORTE
ADEUS, VISTA ESTE
<<<<<YESTERDAY
COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO
INHAÚMA, VISTA NOROESTE INHAÚMA, VISTA NOROESTE
*Historical photos courtesy of Instituto Raízes em Moviment *Present day photos taken by Ben Stokke
INHAÚMA, VISTA OESTE
TELEFÉRICO ASPHALTO
INHAÚMA, VISTA OESTE
TELEFÉRICO ASPHALTO
Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janiero
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4.1.2.B. INTERVIEWS FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
To further communicate the history of the natural environment in Comlexo do Alemão to community for the exhibition, I conducted a series of interviews with some of the older members of the community that had memories of the favela before it became the densely populated built urban environment that it is today. I was interested in gaining a narrative description of Complexo as it was first settled. I probed these people about what they thought of that past environment compared to the present environment, how they felt about the lack of green space in the community, and if they had any memories of farming or growing food in the community. The responses ranged from not wanting to provide an opinion, to being very critical of current development projects such as the Teleferico (cable car) that was installed by the municipality in 2010, to longing for the past as it was, “much better in all senses.” The conversations went wildly off topic but it was nonetheless an informative activity. There were some memories of farming and an agriculture presence in the community back when open space existed. Luciano was the only person that I met in Complexo do Alemão who had a garden that he maintained regularly. He grew tomatoes, cucumber, papaya, potatoes, and other crops annually. His garden was impressive given the extremely unforgiving environment for urban agriculture. It gave me the impression that farming and growing produce could become a reality in this environment, if only there was a dedicated space that allowed for growing on this post-industrial land. The responses to my interview questions are on the following page.
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4.1.2.B. INTERVIEWS
SR. LUCIANO BATISTA DOSANTOS AGE 71
72 YEARS LIVING IN COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO, RIO DE JANIERO
Q&A: Q: WHAT DID THIS PLACE LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU FIRST MOVED HERE? Q: DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT HERE SUCH AS FORESTS, TREES, ETC. WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED? Q: HOW HAS THE PRESENCE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? Q: DID YOU EVER FARM OR DID YOU KNOW ANY RESIDENTS THAT FARMED HERE WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED?
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When Luciano moved to Alvorado, Complexo do Alemao, there were only shacks and they were mainly made of earth. The earth houses were sturdy and they were resistant to bullets. The roads in the area were primitive. They were made of dirt, had many holes, and were very narrow alleys strictly for pedestrians. There were no roads in Alvorada that could accommodate automobiles. Asphalt roads were later constructed in the area by the resident association nearly 30 years ago. He recalls being one of the first Moradores to own a car. While driving he remembers his car jumping along the road because of all the holes and trashed that lined the streets. He remembers that at the time he moved to Alvorada in Complexo do Alemoa it was a very undesirable area, “nobody wanted to live here.” He remembers seeing a great deal of forests, trees, and bushes in the early days. Furthermore, he recalls seeing a great deal of farming in the area. “You could plant what you wanted to eat”, he says. “Nearly everybody had a garden and grew their own food because space here was once abundant. Today, nobody does this.” Luciano currently has a very fertile garden where he grows potatoes, papaya, cilantro, corn, and tomatoes. His garden is one of very few remaining gardens in Complexo do Alemao. Luciano remains quite fond of the past because it was much calmer than it is today. He says in the early days it was much safer and more quite. Today, people are robbed and feel unsafe in their community. “It was better back then in all senses, much better than it is today.”
SR. FLORINDO
SR. IRINEU GOMES DE AGUIAR
70 YEARS LIVING IN COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO, RIO DE JANIERO
67 YEARS LIVING IN COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO, RIO DE JANIERO
AGE 83
Mr. Florindo came from Jacarezinho, (a structured favela at that time with water and energy) when he was around 10. He remembers some farming, but it was not in the Nova Brasilia area. He recalls Fazendinhas (little farms). He says that there were half a dozen of barracos (shacks) when he arrived in the 1940’s. Mr. Florindo has worked since he was 13 and then retired at 29 after working for the beer company Skol. He said the heat was unbearable there and that he got sick of it. Hence, he retired with less than 10 years working at Skol. After the retirement, he was owner of a construction material store and became president of the community association twice, winning for a difference of 7 votes in the first time and with 700 in the second round. He claims to be the link between the government and the favela bringing improvements like asphalt, water, energy, and investments. He said that he managed a contract of approximately 363 million Cruzeiros (currency of Brazil from 1942 to 1986) with the energy company at the time. The community at the time thought of him as a politician, but he never accepted this. He said that the association presidents looked nothing like him because he was always walking around the community looking for problems to solve and everybody knew him. Now, the presidents stay ‘hidden’ and few people know their faces. He said that people in the beginning settled in the flat lands and then started to invade the hill only when the space on flat land started to diminish. There was an area invaded many times in what is now known as Praça do Terço. The space was formerly a basketball court behind the actual Praça do Conhecimento. Merchants of the time paid a symbolic importance of $ 25 to secure a shop on the main street of the community. When asked how he feels about the absence of green space in Complexo do Alemao today, He had no opinion because “Progress is unstoppable.” He further stated, “a man has to search for help, but helping himself is the main thing he must pursue.’
AGE 68
This place was already called Alemão when he arrived. There were some bars and a few house very separated from each other and the place was almost all flatland with some bumps. He used to play with kids in the lower parts of the forests. The biggest invasion that took the upper side of the hill was held in the 1960s. So, it means that he lived his childhood in the part where Alan Brum’s grandma lives today and started living up in the hill in 1971 when he got married. He left the house in 2009 when his wife passed away and his house was removed. He now lives on São Sebastião Street in the foot of the hill. Where is today the Raizes Em Movimento Institute and the St Judas Tadeu Catholic Church, existed a tillage of cultivated green land which ended in Grota. The land had some kind of fenced small ranch in its interior. He says that “a green area today should be welcomed if there was enough space. But, it’s not what happens now.“ The harvest used to be sold away from here, to obtain more profit. Mr. Irineu used to work as elevator operator and retired in 1991 after 32 years working in that job After all these years he claims to be still afraid of cable cars. He says his thing is “up and down, not riding heights like Tarzan.”
Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janiero
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4.1.2.C. GREEN/AGRICULTURE SCHEMATICS: INSTITUTIONAL OR COMMERCIAL URBAN AGRICULTURE NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
The construction of the Teleferico in Complexo do Alemao has added more asphalt within the community and reduced the amount of natural green spaces IN THE aREA. Currently the areas adjacent to many of the Teleferico posts are undesirable areas used for collecting trash. The space surrounding the Teleferico posts provide an opportunity for revitalized public space and urban agriculture that can provide healthy, green spaces for the community. A large scale hydroponic greenhouse creates an opportunity for urban agriculture to be produced locally, quickly, and with large harvests. The elevated greenhouse creates a terraced space below for an outdoor amphitheater adjacent to the street. The amphitheater can be used for community meetings, events, concerts, or dances for the community. The space adds additional green landscaping for the community, a place for children to play, and comfortable set of stairs that connects the community to Nova Brasilia down the hill.
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4.1.2.C. GREEN/AGRICULTURE SCHEMATICS: TELEFERICO TREE NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
The Teleferico posts feel foreign to this community. They are rather AESTHETICALLY UNPLEASING and disrupt the urban life here in Complexo do Alemao. Creating a structure around the teleferico that allows the teleferico to function while giving the teleferico some beauty and life is the intention of this design. The light-weight construction allows plants to be grown in planters around the teleferico post. This creates a shaded and cool environment in the area adjacent to the post below the plants. This area can be used for socializing, eating, parties, or relaxing. The new structure attempts to make a tree out of the teleferico to create more comfortable, green, and active public spaces for the community.
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4.1.2.C. GREEN/AGRICULTURE SCHEMATICS: PRIVATE URBAN HYDROPONIC CURTAINS AND COMMUNITY GARDENS NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
Hydroponic curtains provide the opportunity for individuals to grow fresh fruits and vegetables along the north facing facades of their homes. Furthermore, the curtain acts as a shading device for the home. This shade will keep temperatures inside the home cooler and more comfortable throughout the day. Water collected from the roofs of the homes can be used to water the plants growing within the hydroponic curtains. The beauty of fresh produce creates colorful facades along the streets and provides an edge for an active public space. The community garden provides the opportunity for residents to grow fruits and vegetables with each other. Adjacent to the garden there is a space for recreation, eating, socializing, playing, or a small scale market to sell the produce grown in the garden. The design also provides flexible, semi-vegetated space that can be used for parking automobiles or other activities or events that require additional space.
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4.1.2.C. MODEL FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! NFORMATIVE EXHIBITION CONTENT:
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4.1.2.C.IDEA WALL FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
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4.1.2.C. WEEKEND WORKSHOPS FAVELA VOCE MESMO FAZ! COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
Every weekend, with the help of Barraco55, we took to the streets to gain feedback about what type of development/improvement the people living adjacent to Rua de Assembléia would like to see in their community. The method used for idea collection was simple. I posed a question, “If you could have anything you desired in a newly developed public space here, what that would be? Please draw, sketch, or write your ideas,” I then distributed A4 sheets of paper and markers. Each weekend we would set up a table in a different public space and pose the same question. I then took photos of the drawings to later analyze trends. While there was a certain degree of discomfort knowing that many moradores have been promised new social and public projects by the municipality before without ever actually receiving them, I was upfront with all participants by stating that this was pure research about having a dialogue between designers and community. Nonetheless, it seemed that most people who participated were quite willing to do so. A majority of the participants were children who would simply smile when given a piece of paper and a marker. Other community members
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would offer their ideas and chat for an extended time about how the area could be improved. However most people, would simply walk by our table, give us an odd but friendly look, and go about their day.
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4.1.6. WORKSHOP IDEA GENERATION A4 SHEETS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
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*THE NEXT PAGE REVEALS A GRAPHIC THAT ILLUSTRATES TRENDS WITH THE IDEA COLLECTION. THE RESULTS OF BARRACO55’S EXHIBITION FEEDBACK AND WORKSHOPS SHOW HOW THE PARTICIPANTS VIEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE AREA BY WAY OF SUBMITTING DRAWN OR WRITTEN IDEAS FOR RESIDUAL SPACES WITIHIN THE ALVORADA REGION OF COMPLEXO DO ALEMAO. ALONG THE X-AXIS IDEAS AND SUB CATEGORIES ARE PRESENTED AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL IDEAS COLLECTED. THE Y AXIS TALLIES THE NUMBER OF REPEAT IDEAS COLLECTED FROM THE COMMUNITY. A QUICK GLANCE ILLUSTRATES THE COMMUNITY’S DESIRE FOR GREEN, NATURAL SPACES, SPACES, SPORT/ RECREATION SPACES, COMMON IDEALS DESCRIBED IN WORDS SUCH AS, “PEACE, HARMONY, LOVE.” AND SPACES FOR CHILDREN TO PLAY.
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4.1.8. ANALYSIS ANALYZED FEEDBACK
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