Master's Thesis

Architecture as Ethnography

Enshrining culture within the built environment

Daniel “miko� mikolaschek uf|gsoa Spring 2014 mrp citylab orlando

Architecture as Ethnography

Enshrining culture within the built environment

Daniel “miko� mikolaschek uf|gsoa spring 2014 mrp citylab orlando mrp committee chair: professor hui zou mrp committee co-chair: professor donna cohen

Table of Contents Introduction 1 Site Analysis 4 Development Process 15 Understanding Barriers 16 Precedents Studies 26 Related Works 52 Creating a Connection 56 Creating a System 62 A Public Backdrop 64 Central Intervention 70 Intervention I 76 Intervention II 80 References 85

Introduction

Redeveloping the Favela The main concept driving this proposal is the need to establish a new way of redeveloping the favelas of South and Central America. These communities are typically made up of poor or impoverished people who group together and build dwellings of cheap and recycled materials, often materials that are thrown away or gathered from the demolition of other buildings.

These communities are often rich in culture, talent, skill, and craftsmanship.

However, people of these communities often work for minimal income or have no income at all. It is for this reason that redeveloping these communities requires a very broad approach that touches on many types of concentrations. These include economics, sociology, anthropology, city planning, engineering, and architecture.

The scope of such a redevelopment project would also need to include infrastructure, civic space, communal space, and public and private housing, as an alternative to many current methods that simply seek to sweep away the existing buildings and replace them with block style housing structures.

However, the wall at the core of this broad concept is merely a beginning point that is a very small portion of the overall scope. It is intended to serve as an infrastructural spine, a marker of place that belongs to the community, a public system for preserving the culture and history of the community, and most importantly, a catalyst to spawn redevelopment on a large scale and scope.

Most importantly, redevelopment of such neighborhoods needs to remain an emotional, financial, and cultural investment of the inhabitants of the community. Most work being done in favelas is driven by local, state, and federal initiatives. While such projects would not be feasible without the help of the government, it is vital that the sense of pride and ownership of these communities remain with the people who will continue to inhabit these neighborhoods. This will be the key to incremental, sustainable, and lasting redevelopment.

Do architects and designers have a responsibility to use their skills to enhance the lives of less fortunate people? Can architecture and design be used to encourage redevelopment and growth in low-income areas? Can a symbolic edifice serve as the spine of future redevelopment while acting as a source of community and cultural pride and unification? This proposal seeks to answer these questions.

Purpose •

Enhance the design process by understanding the culture of the end-user.

• Establish a precedent for community driven need based architecture.

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Explore community pride and experiences through archival architecture.

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Understand the meaning of edges, paths, and nodes within densely constructed and unplanned communities.

Action Plan •

Understand the culture of the neighborhood through research and documentation.

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Small scale intervention and community driven design.

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Development of an appropriate site.

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Development of an environmental plan.

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Establishment of new cultural amenities.

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inhabitants of the favela, as well as establishing a system of cultural sensitivity when working with different communities.

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PUBLIC SPACE

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Anthropological analysis of a favela will play heavily into the proposed intervention. Understanding the ways of life, the cultural moral beliefs, the existing system of economy, language, family structures, and skills and strengths will assist in developing a language of design that fits well into the favela. However, such analysis can also help to engage other areas of redevelopment, such as economy, sustainability, societal unrest, and community cohesion. Furthermore, such analysis will ensure a level of acceptance, engagement, and sense of ownership among the 2.

LIG

Cultural Anthropology and Architecture

ECONOMY

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Public Space it the cultivator and incubator for enculturation and cultural evolution. It is the place where the three basic tenants of any culture (economy, subsistence, and religion)intersect through social interactions. Within this realm, members of a society exchange ideas, learn behaviors, and become familiar with the way their societies operate. Public spaces come in all shapes, sizes and functions. However, to be an effective incubator for cultural education, the space is better served if it is traversed by a wide variety within the culture, rather than a space that caters to a small mono-culture.

A SOCI

Public Space

Within the span of America’s history as a world super power, there have been countless interventions from Western cultures in areas of economic poverty or deficiency of natural resources.

These interventions have usually been targeted aid packages but have also included attempts at social engineering or even planning and executing built environments, and have been either publicly funded projects or privately funded interventions. It goes without saying that these attempts have highlighted two major concerns in the field of architectural intervention. First and foremost is ` apparent lack of affective solutions that the built environment and planning can provide in terms of revitalizing economically depressed zones, areas lacking natural resources, or areas torn by cultural imbalance. Second is the lack of cultural and societal sensitivity that has accompanied many of these attempts. It is the hypothesis of this research that one is the direct cause of the other. Specifically, that an intervention into the lives of a society requiring aid (especially one that does not share cultural values with Western societies) can only succeed if great care is taken to study, experience, and incorporate that society’s values into such an intervention.

When a designer D CUL E begins his or R her work they must first apply themselves as an anthropologist.

The initial analysis performed for any good design intervention should always

start with a detailed ethnography of the users of the intervention.

In this way an intervention becomes an application of observation rather than a predetermined prescription.

Societies that possess great wealth, resources, and shared human intellect and knowledge, have a moral responsibility to help other societies that are in need. Furthermore, Architectural design and planning has the capability to reinvigorate areas that suffer from economic depression, lack of natural resources, environmental degradation, and cultural unrest. However, this can only be true if designers are sensitive to the culture of their users. Great care must be taken to understand the social, spiritual, and economic workings of a society, before an intervention can be implemented. Every culture is different in the way it operates. While most western cultures are more similar then they are different, many other cultures throughout the world do not conform to this way of life. Therefore, it is important that designers not impose their cultural or moral biases on a society where he or she is attempting to intervene. In anthropology, this is referred to as cultural relativity, and allows the application of observation to cater to the culture in question. This idea has relevance in architectural practice as well. Designers must truly understand the client in order to create the environment that best suits their needs, and not that of the designer.

However, when dealing with interventions that pertain to a society in need and with a very different culture than our own, the application of anthropological interests become of upmost importance. At its most basic level, the use of anthropological evaluation and ethnography can provide designers and planners with an understanding of the way a culture operates.

If, for example, an intervention is intended to strengthen the economic well being of a society then it becomes important to fully understand the economic system employed by that society and not to impose a system that has no relevance to the culture in question. The same is true of the society’s spirituality, family composition, political systems, subsistence patterns, or other cultural components. Ignoring these issues can be damaging to a society. Where culturally insensitive interventions have been

attempted in impoverished favelas in Brazil, these efforts have been ignored by the society in question. In areas of Africa where efforts were taken with little forethought of existing culture, societies have been robbed of their ability to subsist and have suffered real harm. There are many opportunities to research the history of Western aid-based intervention. The unfortunate commonality that most share is their inability to be effective or maintain long-term sustainability.

However, observation and understanding are only a part of any good intervention. The true synthesis between anthropology and architecture will come in the application of the relevant research and observation. Factors such as need, scale, materials, mobility, and reproduction will all play key rolls in determining the type of intervention that is necessary and appropriate for any society that is in need. Where shelter is needed, the intervention must address the most essential requirements of a society (that of safe and comfortable shelter), but these dwellings must conform to the culture of the society. That is to say, if the society is seminomadic, it does little good to design and build shelters that cannot be easily moved or reproduced elsewhere. Furthermore, if a dwelling is required, then it becomes vital to understand the family structure of the society. As a western society, we have long been used to the idea of a simple nuclear family unit, but a home that suits our needs would far from suit the needs of a society that is based on maternal family structures. This is where a keen design sense and careful cultural observation and understanding will come together to create a workable solution for a society in need.

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Site Analysis Residencial Cantareira

This study looks at the resources that most communities provide and how a place of interaction can lend power to these resources in strengthening the community as a whole. Not only does a common public place (a square or plaza) create a stronger sense of identity with-in a community, but it is the place where that community is able to share it’s culture.

Economy Religion

Path of Public Interaction

Subsistence

Center of Cultural Growth

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The neighborhood of Residencial Cantareira was chosen for this exercise because it possesses many of the traits of a larger favela, yet is small enough to serve as a test study. In studying the resources of the site, it is clear that there are many cultural points that knit the community together. However, what is lacking is a center of exchange where these resources can be linked.

The diagrams at the right show the position of these resources, while those on the following pages discuss their connection through a public intervention. The result is three public spaces linked by an architectural edifice in keeping with the concept of this research project.

Topography

Tree Line

Water

Economy

Subsistence

Religion

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Public Space

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Creating Connections

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Site Analysis Paraisopolis

While this research project is intended to be a framework for many types of projects in many types of non-traditional urban places, the specific site of this project will be in the neighborhood of Paraisopolis in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is one of the largest of Sao Paulo’s 400 favelas. The Favela consists of 15,843 households and was first occupied in 1972. The neighborhood occupies 1 square kilometer with roughly 195,000 inhabitants and 3000 businesses. [2,3] This site has been chosen for several reasons.

Sao Paulo has developed a rich base of research and projects on the topic of favela redevelopment. This will provide ample data pertaining to the community and site as well as a basis on which to test the ideas of this proposal. Furthermore, because the area chosen as the site for this project creates considerable issues regarding water runoff, pollution, and erosion due to its topography, it is a prime candidate for the ground stability and water filtration that the proposed wall in this project can provide.

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The image above clearly shows the density and breadth of the favela. While this research project only looks at a small area of the neighborhood, its intention is to create a framework that could be carried along the entire length of the water-way shown above.

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These site sections, topography maps, and aerial photos give a sense of the density and terrain of Paraisopolis. There is a small river at the basin of the valley shown in the section. It is densely crowded and highly polluted. A clear goal for this project is to protect the river from encroachment as well as pollution. In doing so, it will also become the central feature of the ensuing public space. The immediate site also shows and un-built space that could be used for a small development project that could serve to aid in a displacement plan. The existing buildings have grown together organically over time. As a result, this project could also serve to create a clear and linear public space that connects areas that were previously inaccessible.

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building foundations or wash out hillsides that have been stripped of their vegetation. Running water can also pick up harmful pollutants which end up in water sources. This is often the case in Paraisopolis.

It is important to maintain water supplies and these images clearly depict the results of unsuccessful water management. While run-off and flooding do cause considerable damage, this images show how the encroachment of buildings can lead to further pollution or even sever water damage to buildings that have been built to close to water supplies. Many techniques exists to filter or collect run-off water to protect water supplies bellow.

Perhaps the most telling view of Paraisopolis. This image depict the disparity in income that often exists within feet of each other in São Paulo. Here, the security wall is clearly visible, as is the separation is creates. Yet, while there are very difficult situations to deal with in any favela, when asked, most people reply that they like their neighborhood and wouldn’t want to leave. This speaks to the pride that people feel for their own communities.

The extreme density that often exists in a favela can be seen here. While urban density can have powerful benefits, there are some major drawbacks. Code enforcement is difficult to maintain, which can lead to dangerous overhead conditions or fires that can spread and cause wide-spread damage.

SĂŁo Paulo has a very contoured terrain, which causes issues due to water run-off. Running water can cause damage to 12.

Like many cultures around the world, those found in Paraisopolis are very rich and personal.

Playing and family are extremely important. Safe places for children to play or families to enjoy are key ingredients to a thriving community. In Brazil, games like rugby, and basket ball are extremely popular among children and adults. However, Brazil is definitely a country that views soccer as not a sport, but a work of art. Even when no space is provided, children will play soccer in the street with a ball made of discarded yarn, if nothing better is available. Families also value social occasions where food and music play are very important roll. It is always important to provide these spaces to families. They promote exercise and communication and camaraderie.

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Development Process The extreme density of the Paraisopolis favela creates many problems but also exposes possibilities for urban renewal. In this case, a polluted water source runs through a poorly paved intersection. This point becomes the central node for inserting an intervention that provides public space, protects the water source, defends against future construction encroachment, provides for public amenities and resources, and creates a visual identity for the neighborhood.

1. Target Area - The building identified in blue encroach on the waterway too densely. The result is pollution and a lack of access to the water as a resource. These buildings are targeted for removal and displacement. In some cases they will be completely removed. In others they can be modified to create a suitable water corridor.

2. Target Zone - This is the area left void after removal of the encroaching buildings. It will serve as the base of the intervention. Its shape is defined by the remaining buildings.

3. Identifying Intersections - Two major axis and the water way form a focal point for the intervention. Transportation, pedestrian traffic, and commerce will all intersect here to create the main entrance and exit to the intervention.

4. Identifying anchors - These are areas of interest along the target zone. They are potentials for micro interventions such as play zones for children, commerce zones for small shop owners, and religious buildings that play into the local culture.

5. Creating Connections - The intervention will serve as a public corridor to connect these micro interventions, the water, and the public.

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Physical Barriers And Their Cultural Impact

Alphaville

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Alphaville is a walled community in Sao Paulo that has spawned many off-shoots since its inception in 1978. The compound now includes 16 gated communities. The walls of the community ensure little to no interaction with those of lesser means who live outside of its protection. The walls create a stark illustration of the division between the rich and the poor, and often allow those who have not to have the experience the poverty that is often merely a few feet beyond their protective barrier, when that experience could serve as the motivator for real and lasting policy changes.

West Bank Wall

Palestine & Israel

The physical separation of Palestinians and Jews in Israel stems from a long standing religion claim to land that both heritages share. Many skirmishes and battles have occurred over the area in question and in 2002, Israel began building walls for protection as well as to impose a new border to the area. In many cases, these barriers create a real difficulty for Palestinians to obtain food or travel to their jobs. Much more damaging, however, is the lack of social interaction that could help to slowly heal the wounds of this of this war-torn land.

38th Parallel

North & South Korea

In most cases, the 38th Parallel is lined by fences, gaurdposts, and mountains. It is not a wall by traditional definition, however, it does separate people from each other. Because, North Koreans are not allowed to leave the country, they have had very little interaction with foreign people. Coupled with the anxiety and fear that is synonymous with living in a police state, this gives rises to a distrust of foreigners, and an isolation that allows North Korea leaders to spread propaganda and control its people, where an understanding of other cultures and laws could help to spark and unstoppable current of change.

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Walls Historically walls have been used to defend an area against attack or invasion. This is most commonly seen in defensive walls that surround castles, fortresses, and some old cities, perhaps the most famous being the Great Wall of China.

However, in contemporary times, such barriers are also used to imprison or contain. Prison walls and fences are a good example of such walls. Perhaps the most well known in recent human history is the Berlin wall, which physically encapsulated half of a city from the rest. This, of course, was a small part of the Iron Curtain, which divided East and West Europe, and was often not a wall at all, but an idea enforced through fear and intimidation.

Within northern America there is also the wall that divides the United States and Mexico. This boarder wall is intended to keep illegal aliens from crossing into the United States. The idea of a wall guarding the boarder has gained popularity since the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001, but is also fueled by a political division within the country, as well as the USA’s intention to keep illegal drugs and weapons out of the country. This wall truly expresses the dichotomy of American ideals, where a country that prides itself on being home to a mixed immigrant population must also defend its boarders from those that would inflict harm.

[1] Countless examples exist in areas where war and civil strife have grown. Such walls seek to divide people on two sides of a conflict. Northern Ireland, Syria, Israel, and North and South Korea have and are still using such mechanisms to ensure “safety”. In these cases, the fundamental question of security directly conflicts with the lasting peace that can come from common experiences and exchanges brought about through unity. Here, the very walls that seek to keep the peace are the very things that fuel division, strife, ignorance, and paranoia. It is a great irony that not only are these walls insurmountable, but the divisions they cause are also making the problems they seek to address more insurmountable. [1] 18.

Contemporary walls are rarely used to provide security in the historic sense of the word. Individual cities and communities do not need to protect themselves from marauding bandits or invading armies. Except for the case of gated communities, modern walls are primarily meant to provide privacy. While a fence or a wall surrounding a garden may provide some security against theft and intrusion, they are typically intended to provide division between public and private spaces. In this sense, such walls have begun to take on a symbol of division within a community. This division is often related to the division of the wealthy and the poor.

This trend has seen a growing adoption in areas where there is a great separation between income classes. Sao Paulo, Brazil has seen the rise of large gated communities in the past several years. Alphaville is a series of gated communities driven by private enterprise and supported by government taxation policy.

There are 16 or so such communities with the promise of more to come, and they are guarded by nearly 40 miles of wall that separate the have’s from the have not’s. While the walls provide a sense of security to the community’s residents, the separation of the two populations simply acts to further divide them and drive a larger gap in income inequality. The residents of Alphaville are no longer required to see or feel the pain of poverty. They are simply able to retreat behind their wall and ignore the evergrowing problems that face Sao Paulo. Furthermore, these walls have become a symbol in the minds of the less fortunate people of Sao Paulo. They symbolize the failings of Brazil’s economic policies and the keen sense that Brazil is home to not one unified citizenry, but two. [1] A slightly newer phenomenon is that of the sound wall. These are walls that divide primarily residential spaces from loud public spaces. For example, highways or railways that run through residential neighborhoods will often employ such walls to reduce the noise that enters the private spaces. Such walls are often even made of clear materials so as not to create a visual division, merely a physical and audible division.

In all cases, walls are often subject to the cultural phenomenon of graffiti. Walls of all kinds serve as a backdrop for expressing the underlying thoughts, hopes, and distresses of the population.

This theme plays heavily into the development of the wall in this proposal. In this way, the wall becomes a way to record history, express cultural hopes and concerns, display points of pride, and unify the community. It is also intended to offer commentary on other walls that seek to protect through division. Because of its unique construction, the wall will seem a solid edifice in some areas (where an edge is required), a porous edifice in others (where light and shade can mix), a completely permeable faรงade where passage is required, and a mere marking of space where open public space is needed, almost invisible. It will make its mark in the center of the neighborhood, rather than segregate the neighborhood from other areas. Its message will be that while groups of people are different, a closer examination will show that they are rarely too different to form bonds and find commonalities.

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Physical Barriers Within the Modern Context

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Gaudi uses a very subcultural structural edge to serve as an overhead canopy as well as a means of support for the earth above.

This example uses a very raw natural material framed by a fabricated material to create a barrier in a landscape. It serves as an interesting juxtaposition of materials and a smart and sustainable cost saving method.

This barrier gives an example of how something porous can still serve as a wall while providing visibility to the other side.

However, from another angle, this wall would seem continuous.

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Physical Barriers Within the Modern Context

Here the city of Vicenza provides a barrier to the flood prone river. However, the wall also serves as a structural support for the building that straddles it. The cantilever of the building can then provide shade as people pass underneath.

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There is a very real consequence to separating people of different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, income levels, or religions. The separation can create an irreparable rift that will cause distrust, anger, and non-cooperation. In many cases, it is only real grass roots communication between people that brings about shifts and changes in the global society. Walls are symbol of the failed attempt at physical separation. They often evoke a sense that if we can’t see something, then there isn’t anything wrong. This is easily typified by walls such as the Berlin wall. During it’s existence, it symbolized an ugly and dark time in German history. Yet, the moment it was being torn down, it instantly became a symbol of unity and joy. The idea was clearly, “nothing can stand in our way... not even walls and guns.” This spirit is the inspiration for a major architectural feature of this project. Walls can be symbolic and evocative. They can stand for separation, but they can also serve as a reminder that the physical boundaries on the path to change will only stand for so long. In order to achieve this symbolism, the wall at the heart of this project is a permeable and flexible entity. It is used to mark the union of spaces. It gives importance and protection to public space (the space where real and lasting change always begins). It offers support to nearby structures, who’s stability may be failing. It also is constructed of materials the represent the neighborhood (going so far as creating a backdrop for art, performance, and the collection of meaningful artifacts). Walls can have real benefits in the built environment. In this project, they are meant as a source of community strength and a display of hope and pride.

In the forum in Rome, these high arches serve to frame a path and provide directionality. Even though the arches are not continuous, they provide a sense of a protective overhead condition.

This wall provides not only a barrier for protection (a castle in Belansona, Switzerland), but also a place to walk. In it’s modern us, the arrow gaps frame the views of the alps as people pass by.

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Connection to European Walls Traveling in Europe has played a role in influencing this proposal.

It is common to encounter an old city wall surrounding a historic city center. While it has been informative to see how contemporary urban development has incorporated these walls into the urban fabric, it is also interesting to observe the redefinition of these walls as well as new wall types that are used ubiquitously in European residential areas (typically noise walls, garden walls, and river walls - as well as the graffiti and other cultural communication that these tend to host). Often, the old city walls serve to not only protect and segregate the old city, but to aid in shifting the elevation of the ground. In other cases, large city gates, that announce the entrance to the city, allow a wall that serves to separate to briefly serve as a point of connection. Highway and train route sound walls (although typically covered in graffiti) are often made of glass, and allow for a visual connection while segregating only physical and audible transmission.

Of further interest is the removal of the city wall in Barcelona and the negative space that resulted, and an old fortress in the town of Sienna, Italy. This fortress acts as a wall on the outside, while creating a large plinth on its interior. The old fort is long since gone, but the city has reinvigorated the space with a park and an amphitheater. Above all, every vertical surface that was encountered (whether city wall, sound wall, or envelope to a building) seems to serve as a cultural sounding board. Some are host to graffiti, while others host stickers of bands and social movements and posters for any event imaginable. All of this has had some interesting impact on this proposal. While Berlin has provided a sense of how a wall can divide, serve as a symbol, and in the wake of its removal, as a seam of connection.

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Precedents

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Existing and Proposed Redevelopment Projects There are many precedents for this type of work. It will be important to understand several aspects of these projects.

Success of these projects must be analyzed in terms of cost effectiveness, financial impact, design success, and resulting impact on the existing neighborhood.

It is also vital to understand the ways in which previous projects or interventions have embraced or disregarded the cultural aspects of the existing ways of life of the favela.

Several resources have been established for researching these projects. During this semester (Fall 2013) a design charrette was organized between the UF VIA program, the Matera School of Architecture, the Pescara School of Architecture, and the Escola da Cidade/San Paulo. During this charrette, many resources were presented as a way to research specific neighborhoods, projects, and master plans. Also, professors from the school in San Paulo have made their time available to guide future research for this project.

the city, so we went to him and asked him to figure out how to make it beautiful,” Geronino Barbosa, director of the Heliopolis community group UNAS, told the design magazine Dwell.”[4] Beautification can play a large roll in encouraging redevelopment.

When driven by the culture and talent of a place, such beautification can also establish true ownership and pride within a community. Of course, many issues remain pertaining to the structural integrity, safety, and health of existing buildings.

However, such beautification measures can serve to display a sign of improvement until more lasting improvements can be made. Also, such projects can help to inform the direction of future interventions by establishing a style and aesthetic that reflects the needs and wants of the community.

Community Driven Projects and Interventions In past years many favelas have seen interventions and renewal projects that have been driven by their own inhabitants. Such projects include artistic expressions designed to improve a neighborhood’s aesthetic appeal and to create a sense of pride among its inhabitants. Repainting the structures of a neighborhood in a colorfully themed pallet or displaying largescale works of art on the façades of buildings has seen an increase in popularity. Such interventions help to reflect the rich culture of a place and it’s people. This can also work to create unity among a neighborhood’s inhabitants by exemplifying the ideas a community has in common. “Well-known Sao Paulobased Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake mobilized the 6,000 residents to use a fixed palette of six colors – from bright yellow to deep purples – to create a look described as akin to an Italian hill town.

“Ohtake told a newspaper that Heliopolis was the ugliest part of 27.

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Architects: Drucker Arquitetura Location: S達o Paulo, Brazil Rendering: Courtesy of Drucker Arquitetura Project Strategies Integration of slum area Respect to topography and morphology Improvement of environmental conditions This perimeter is an extremely vulnerable area from the environmental point of view. Many houses are implemented in flooding areas on steep downhill land that compromise stability.

The design is also predicated on the interaction between the urban edge and the organic natural surroundings.

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Project for the favela of Cabuçu in San Paulo, Brazil Ettore Vadini This Charrette project is intended to bring much needed infrastructure into the neighborhood (garbage pickup, sewage. playgrounds, schools, and services. The focus of the project became about finding the relationship of architecture to it’s landscape. Because of the winding river in this area, it became necessary to think in terms of micro-public interventions. Each project would also provide employment opportunities for the residents of the area.

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Regeneration of the Favela Jan Kudlicka Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil This project focuses on alleviating the density of one of Rio’s most crowded favelas. This crowded condition can be problematic in the case of fires and other emergencies. The concept begins with identifying public space that can be preserved and expanded. In this case, the target area is an existing square with very tight access. Through a strategy of vertical stratification, the space is expanded at the ground level by elevating certain structures to create ground level entrances to the space. This space is dedicated to public use, including commerce, leisure, education, and health care. The upper floors of the buildings are reserved for private residences, while the roof tops become a connected network of semi-private outdoor spaces for the residents.

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PROGETTO URBANO “CÓRREGO DO ANTONICO” Maria João Figueiredo (MMBB Arquitetos) Currently the waters of the Antonico receive much of the sewage of the favela and, during each summer, are responsible for the collapse of several buildings. This project seeks to alleviate those issues with a new infrastructural system to creates volume for the river to expand. In doing so, the river becomes less volatile and allows for a safe public environment that can be enjoyed by the whole neighborhood.

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Architects: Elemental – Alejandro Aravena, Alfonso Montero, Tomås Cortese, Emilio de la Cerda Location: Iquique, Chile.

This project deals with low income housing in a budget friendly and interesting way. The projects yield a fully functioning house.

However, the inhabitant then fills in the remaining volume of the house over time. This allows for family expansion down the road. Also, this strategy allows for a unique home that the owner completes at a later time. The existing architecture is built extremely strong to give support for the in fill that the owner provides at a later time.

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Architect: Urban-Think Tank Alfredo Brillembourg & Hubert Klumpner Project Architects: Michael Contento & Lindsey Sherman Project Team: Maria Augusta Bueno, Carlos Guimaraes The priority for this project was equipping this peripheral neighborhood with infrastructure, water, sewage networks, lighting and services in addition to social infrastructure in the areas of education, safety, culture, public space, and sports.

The proposed model aims to translate a society’s need for equal access to housing, employment, technology, services, education, and resources into spatial solutions.

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Related Works

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Nap Ford Charter School Orlando, FL UF|GSoA Fall 2012 This project incorporates the idea of a highly textured and communicative wall. It serves to both protect the children and create an organizational datum around which public and private spaces can be oriented. The clients of the school wished to incorporate public space that could be used by all the residents of the neighborhood. This called for a unique system that would create soft and flexible division between spaces.

The wall was also a symbolic reminder of the layers and history that give the neighborhood it’s identity.

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Florianapolis Favela Redevelopment Florianapolis, Brazil UF|GSoA Fall 2013 with Tairis Alvarez UF|GSoA During this charrette our team was tasked with creating better connections throughout the favela. This intervention brings pedestrians through a very steep forest trail by creating a sky bridge that connects to the southern site. There is an anchor structure at each end that provides rest rooms as well as viewing decks and a common room used for education in sustainability and preservation of the natural resources of the island.

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Creating a Connection Developing a Framework for Intervention

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Target Area- Remove congestion and provide for smart growth, displacing density responsibly through an incremental remove and replace methodology.

The target area can be highlighted by higher density community structures that connect the development.

Target Area- Care must me taken so that construction is not immediately filled in. This is accomplished by establishing clear setbacks in the project.

The knot formed by the road, the river, and the target area create a likely area for a focal point to the intervention.

Target Area- Impact on the river and lack of public space are the key factors in the intervention

Target Area- Congestion and density without planning leave the area unorganized and unfriendly 57.

Architecture as Ethnography The wall in this proposal will run through an area where it will best serve as a community focal point. As such, it will also serve as a living ethnographic record of that community. This will occur through a complex construction method, which will create the wall out of several layers (each serving a specific function). During this phase of locating the project, several other issues will need to be addressed. First, the wall must serve as a focal point, so some physical proximity to the cultural center of the community should be considered. Secondly, most favelas or shantytowns are commonly located along some natural resource such as a river. Often these water sources have been built over, crowded around, severely polluted, or some combination of all three. The construction of the wall should alleviate this condition by opening up a channel along such a resource. Thirdly, as a result of its placement in proximity to a natural resource, the wall should also serve to remediate the area as well. This can be accomplished by allowing the wall to serve as filtration for downhill water runoff. Therefore, it would be ideal to site the wall uphill from a water source. Lastly, because the wall will create a newly open pathway, it will be important to incorporate public space into its construction or make site considerations for existing public spaces. In the case where the wall would serve as uphill water filtration for a downhill source, one side would serve as bio filtration space while the other could serve as a new public path with a series of green spaces to help raise awareness for the natural concerns of the neighborhood. Once the location of the wall has been decided, the next step in the design of the wall will be in researching what other functions the wall can serve (besides its purpose as an ethnographic record of the neighborhood).

In many cases, favelas and shantytowns are lacking in basic infrastructure. This can be as basic as electricity, water distribution, or proper site drainage. However, other considerations might include information distribution (such as high-speed Internet), or local access to public transportation.

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These are all functions that such a wall could serve. This is due to the multi layered construction of the wall. At its core, the wall will need a structural frame to maintain its strength and longevity.

This frame could serve as thoroughfare for electrical cables, water lines, drainage pipes, or high-speed fiber optic cables for Internet and data. This inner frame will also serve to house any filtration equipment necessary for site remediation as well.

The walls outer layers will be built upon the inner frame. The next layer will consist of materials that will give the wall its character as a spine, wall, and backdrop. These will be identified based on their availability within the neighborhood. This could include recycled building materials from demolished buildings, abundant stone or timber, or other prevalent materials that have been discarded (tires would be an example of this). This layer of material will serve multiple purposes as well. First, it will serve to give the wall its basic form. Because of this, it will be important to consider the effect of the form of the wall at certain sections on its immediate proximity. At this point it is important to explain that the wall will not always be just a wall. It may become more porous at certain places to allow passage, light filtration, or even occupancy. In some areas the wall may become so porous that its function as a wall is almost imperceptible. Rather, at these points, the wall may be more of a registration in the landscape.

Lastly, this layer of the wall will need to accommodate the final layer of the wall. This layer will act as the record keeper of the ethnography of the community.

The final layer of the wall will be a series of display cases that will be built into the outer layer of the wall. These will be simple boxes that allow their contents to be viewed by the community. Their design will be easily replicated so that the wall can constantly be added upon. Their contents could include historic artifacts from the community, art and craft pieces, writings, drawings, photographs, or any item that represents the community. These display boxes will be added to the wall as new content is identified. In this way, the ethnography of the neighborhood will be living and never complete.

The wall is itself a simple idea. And while its construction may be complex, it is the idea of a wall that is meant to challenge the existence of a poor favela in the midst of a thriving city. Walls are generally intended to separate its two sides. In this way, the wall at the center of this project will be symbolic of the perceived separation between the favela and its outlying city. In some way, the contents of the walls ethnographic record will also represent this separation. However, this wall will work to redefine the idea of the separation in these areas. This will be accomplished through its construction. As previously stated, the wall will be porous in places, and in others it will even be occupiable. This will create a form that seems impenetrable and ominous, but upon further interaction, it will become an indicator of inclusion and community. This will be further accomplished through its function as a record keeper. Once completed, the wall will serve as a reminder to the community of its heritage and culture, as a representation of the community to the outlying city, and as a reminder to the city that this neighborhood is part of its texture and culture and should be embraced rather than shunned.

Such an intervention could serve as the beginning of further redevelopment in the area and that such redevelopment would be inclusive of the skills, culture, and character of the existing community. This can only be done by first truly understanding the needs, hopes, and culture of the people in these neighborhoods.

Infrastructure The wall in this proposal is a very fluid idea, capable of housing infrastructure, remediating runoff water, and creating new public spaces. Infrastructure can include high-speed internet, Wi-Fi hotspots, clean water, water filtration, waste disposal, and even a structural support mechanism for future buildings. Because it is a protected above ground thoroughfare, it can accept these functions at a significantly lower cost than conventional means of digging trenches under existing buildings and roads. These functions are intended to close the gap between the services provided in more well-to-do neighborhoods and favelas.

The spaces that the wall creates are based on the thickness

of the wall. Because the wall is made up of a multiplicity of materials, infrastructure, structural members, and display spaces, the wall can range greatly in thickness. This allows for the wall to serve as a simple barrier, an occupiable space, a surmountable space, transactional spaces, and permeable spaces. The wall will also work to create a new public corridor by alleviating some dense construction along the length of the wall.

In, On and Around the Wall Occupation of this wall is a subject that requires some careful thought. Typically, a wall is intended to be a barrier between its two sides. However, if a wall were to be thick enough, it could also house programming. Such cases can be found in large defensive walls, where the space inside provides a protected means of circulation, storage, and even living quarters. Vitruvius details this type of construction in Book 1 Chapter V of the Ten Book of Architecture, as he discusses the building of a city wall. If the space at the top of such a thick wall were wide enough, this could also serve as an elevated green space or public gathering space or park. At certain points along its length, the wall could provide alcoves for small commercial stands such as bicycle rentals, farmer’s booths, craft shops, etc. These alcoves could also serve as bus stops or light rail stops, while the wall could provide its own infrastructure for timetable information for these modes of transportation. Storage spaces within the wall could provide a magazine of future building materials for the expansion of the wall or other projects in the neighborhood. Passageways could connect vital transportation routes, waterways, or vital parts of the neighborhood. Shelters designed to protect passersby from the rain could serve as gathering points for people to interact on their way home from work. Traveling along the wall would provide complete shade from the warm sun in places where it is needed, while a more porous section can provide cool filtered light to enliven a space or add drama.

However, the wall is intended to be a display of the culture and richness of the area. It’s multiple layers, diverse materiality, and display spaces are intended to remind the inhabitants 59.

of the favela (and all those who visit) of the complexity and richness of their heritage, and how all of these small pieces fit together to create a whole. Its constant growth is a symbol of the ever changing and growing and evolving experienced by any community. It is intended to be interactive and to provide an experience reflective of the diverse life of living in a favela. Juxtapositions of materiality and textures highlight the composition of old and new, expensive and economic, local and nonnative. It is a reminder of how life must retain balanced if it is to be structurally sound, of how one piece cannot stand on its own. It is an expression of the fact that each person has a role to play in the world. In this way, the wall not only serves as a symbol, but also as an experience for those who interact with it.

Therefore careful consideration must be made when planning the wall. In some cases it will run along open public space.

In other cases, it will serve as the back of something else. It can provide structural integrity for adjacent buildings, much like castle walls provided a backbone for lean-to dwellings and businesses. It can even be implemented in an area where existing buildings are at risk of structural failure, brought in as a structural supplement. This raises the question about what the experience will be at these locations. In tightly built areas the wall could serve to bring natural daylight down into dark spaces, using a more porous construction and light wells or reflective materials. Here the cultural makeup of the wall would be more private, perhaps displaying family artifacts or those of previous inhabitants. Here the wall would feel more like an existing ruin that has been grafted onto. In areas where open space exists, public interaction is vital and the wall should reflect a more public and open attitude. Here community artifacts could be displayed and graffiti would be more prevalent. Where the wall is close to a school, it could serve to display the schools accomplishments, or even provide space for performances by the students or a safe place to wait for parents. In any case, the wall will act to serve the community in a variety of ways. It’s diversity of form and function will allow it to accommodate several forms of programing. Its core will be capable of providing much needed 60.

infrastructure, and its presence will act as a central symbol for the neighborhood it serves.

Public Works and Redevelopment As previously mentioned, this proposal is a small portion of a larger idea of redevelopment of favelas. Its primary intention is to provide a spine onto which future redevelopment can be grafted.

The wall in this proposal will have the ability to generate new public and private space. These can come in the form of parks and waterworks that can serve as gathering spaces and leisure spaces. New circulation paths can be created at the walls base or its top. Housing and commercial buildings can use it as a structural support. New open space derived from its construction can serve as the site of new community centers, schools, health care facilities, libraries, performance spaces, and the like. And, because the wall is to be built of recycled materials that result in the removal of other buildings that require demolition, the wall serves as its own recycling project with the ability to grow as the need develops.

Community Center As an extension of this project, the proposal also calls for the development of a new community center that will relate to the new wall. This center will serve to harness the direction of redevelopment within the neighborhood. Its primary purpose will be to create a place of gathering for the inhabitants of the community. Here, the community can govern itself, implement knew initiatives, raise funds, advocate for political involvement, help community members with documentation, legal issues, and the like. It’s program will supplement economic development, education (from basic topics to skill and craftsmanship training, and employment preparation), small business resources, housing and housing improvement resources, and general space intended for celebrations and events. The primary purpose of such a space would be to give the power, future, and ownership or the redevelopment of the favela to its people.

Expanding the Market As mentioned in the introduction of this proposal, many skilled artisans and craftspeople can be found within a favela. The arts and crafts they produce serve as potential highly soughtafter items on an open market. While the wall can serve to display such items, the community center can serve to help these craftspeople to establish businesses that can operate in larger markets. This can be done through business education and resources, financial backing, and the establishment of commercial networks that can serve as a resource for new businesses within a favela. Training facilities, workshops, storefronts, fairs, and office space would serve those who are looking to use their skills in order to grow their own businesses.

Income and revenue agreements could be used to fund the community center rather than charging rents, or micro-financing could be used as well.

Establishing Micro-Financing Micro-financing established by the community center would help to empower the inhabitants of a community to make their own housing improvements, purchase new housing, start small businesses, or grow existing businesses. This would also create a small stream of revenue in the form or low interest gains from the loaning of small amounts of funds. This revenue could be used to expand funding for other projects, reestablish ownership of buildings and land, or even drive other redevelopment projects in the neighborhood that could create sales or rental income.

Once again, the main objective of such initiatives is to keep the ownership of the favela in the hands of it’s inhabitants rather than redevelopment agencies with little local investment. Such initiatives have proven highly successful in areas where a small amount of money can make a big difference for an individual or a business.

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Creating a System Composition of the Backdrop

Display - These cases provide the opportunity to display community artifacts that represent the identity of the people.

Works of art, craft works, or historical meaningful items could be displayed here.

Reuse & Recycle - Wood an metal that is removed when old buildings are demolished can be used to give the wall a rich texture that anchors it to the neighborhood.

Wall Section

Local Material - Red brick is prevalent in Paraisopolis. It will lend strength and a unifying aesthetic.

Core/Filter - The inner layer will help to control water run-off by filtering pollutants and stabilizing mud slides. It can also be used to carry infrastructural components such as high speed internet cable.

The wall is also designed to contain water should the river become flooded.

The system acts as a one-way system.

As the water rises it would lift the gates and dam up the flow of water.

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Wall Plan

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Central Intervention

This intervention acts on the previously analyzed central node created by the crossing axis of the main streets and the river.

It serves as the access to the overall intervention. Here there are public gardens and areas for commercial activities. It is also marked by a strong entrance gesture that further strengthens this node. This area will see the interaction of pedestrians and vehicular traffic. As such, public transportation hubs, and pedestrian overpasses are employed to make the interaction cohesive and safe. Due to its central location, this section of the overall intervention is also intended to have the highest density of use. Therefore, it can cater to farmer’s markets, fairs, or other community activities.

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1. Vendor Space - These spaces can serve as concession style stands or staging areas for markets.

2. Permeable Barrier - The heavy barrier that seems to encompass the whole project is actually highly permeable. The project can be entered from and location that shares an adjacent open space. Here, that space is very public, so the porosity of the barrier increases, and becomes very ceremonial.

3. Public Plaza - This open space can be used for community event and celebrations. The green space could be purposed as a community garden.

4. Bus Stop - Public transportation is highly important in any dense urban environment. This corner is a very powerful node and would be very easy to use as a stop for transportation systems.

5. Building Entrances - In some cases, the base of a building may penetrate the barrier. In such cases, these edges could be incorporated to become a part of the public space.

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Section showing water containment during flooding

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Intervention I

Because of the variability of such a project, each space can take on very different characteristics and serve different purposes.

Here the site allowed for a wider area that could also serve as a performance space with overhead seating. There are also further opportunities to interface with the existing fabric by carving out lines of travel to help organize the area.

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1. Cafe - This space could serve as a local gathering place with indoor and outdoor seating, including the rooftop deck.

2. Rooftop Patio - Whether for cafe seating or public enjoyment, the rooftop patio provides a different vantage point of the intervention as well as the surrounding neighborhood.

3. Vendor Space - As with the cafe, it is important to include opportunities for revenue in public interventions. These spaces allow local residents to participate and profit from the redevelopment project.

Section showing water containment during flooding

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Intervention II

The intervention winds through the dense fabric of the surrounding neighborhood. It serves to alleviate the density, protect the river, and creates a public space that is essential for communal gathering and cultural interaction. The intervention also takes care to provide financial opportunities to the residents.

The purpose of such a project is to create a sense of growth and direction that can cultivate further redevelopment in the neighborhood.

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1. Futsal Field - This area provided enough room for a sports field of some sort. It is not large enough for a typical soccer field.

However, there was room for a half futsal field. Futsal is a soccer style game played with smaller teams. Half court games are achieved by both teams attempting to score on one goal with a neutral goal keeper. Futsal is a very popular game in Brazil, and is often played on sand beaches.

2. Vendor Spaces - Here, the site lent itself more towards open air vendor spaces. These spaces would work well for temporary vendors, such as those found at a farmer’s market or art show.

Overhead canopies are embedded in the perimeter of the intervention and provide shade on hot days.

Section showing water containment during flooding

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References 1. Rice-Oxley, Mark, Andrew Mason, and Daan Louter. “Why Are We Building New Walls to Divide Us?” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

2. “Heliopolis.” HABISP.plus. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

3. “Heliopolis, from Favela to Educational Neighborhood.” Infosurhoy. N.p., n.d. Web.

28 Nov. 2013.

4. “Brazil’s Sao Paulo Neighbourhood of Heliopolis.” NowPublic.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

28 Nov. 2013.

5. Waterson, Roxana. The Living House: An Anthropology of Architecture in South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford UP, 1990. Print.

6. Oliver, Paul. Built to Meet Needs: Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture. Amsterdam: Architectural, 2006. Print.

7. Harris, Marvin. Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Vintage, 1978. Print.

8. Sinclair, Cameron, and Kate Stohr. Design like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. Print.

9. Dean, Andrea Oppenheimer., and Timothy Hursley. Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and an Architecture of Decency. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2002. Print.

10. Bell, Bryan. Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service through Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2004. Print.

11. Perlman, Janice E. Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio De Janeiro. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

12. Baan, Iwan. “Ingenious Homes in Unexpected Places.” Ted Talks. 16 Oct. 2013. Iwan Baan: Ingenious Homes in Unexpected Places. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <https://www.ted.com/talks/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpected_places>.

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