IDEALIZING A PATH BETWEEN THE SQUARE AND THE SCHOOL research with kids for the final graduation work “free spaces in the city and freedom for the children”
IDEALIZING A PATH BETWEEN THE SQUARE AND THE SCHOOL research with children for the final graduation work “Free spaces in the city and freedom for the children”
author
Guega Rocha Carvalho
co-workers
Juliana Flahr
Joana Andrade Felipe do Amaral tutor Martin Corullon co-tutor Ana Carolina Tonetti
institution Escola da Cidade Urban and Architecture University place São Paulo, Brazil date june/2017
CHILDREN IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY
“A city which overlooks the child’s presence is a poor place. Its movement will be incomplete and oppressive. The child cannot rediscover the city unless the city rediscovers the child” 1 (EYCK , 1962)
(1) Aldo van Eyck (1918 - 1999) was an architect from the Netherlands. After World War II, he developed hundreds of playgrounds in the city of Amsterdam. These public playgrounds were located in parks, squares, and derelict sites, and consisted of minimalistic aesthetic play equipment that was supposed to stimulate the creativity of children.
In big metropolis, like São Paulo, most kids live imprisoned within the walls of their homes, schools and leisure centers. Their walk and permanence in free spaces in the city a very limited. This is harmful to their physical and social health and for the city, because a city that is adequate for children is healthier, more friendly, fun and democratic, that is, it is better for everyone. The theme of absence of children in contemporary cities, and the search for solution that allow for their mobility with more autonomy and fun on their way between plazas and schools, has guided a study with about 130 children, aged from 7 do 12, of different social classes, living in the Consolação district, São Paulo. Among other learnings, the drawings made by the kids idealizing the route
between the school and the plaza revealed that children who attend public schools have a vision and a relationship with the city that are very different from the children who attend private schools. The former, who usually walk, use public transportation and frequent plazas more, draw a route much more related with the reality of the city, with all its beauty and its conflicts. However, those who are much more “protected” and oblivious to the routine of the metropolis illustrate a route associated with the fantasy fairy tales, cartoon and videogames. On the other hand, it is clear that public spaces are the only possibility for these children to meet, both physically and as a convergence of dreams, for these spaces are where all kids in the group find themselves playing with the much desired complete freedom. 5
the everyday spaces
In order to understand the everyday spaces for children, we have talked to about 130 children, aged from 7 to 12, from different social classes who live in Higienópolis and Vila Buarque (two São Paulo neighborhoods), about 60 children who attend private schools and 70 children from public schools, 10 of them living in a squatted building downtown. We established a partnership with an elite private school in Higienópolis, with the Curumim project at SESC Consolação, which assists kids, mostly from public schools, and with the José Bonifácio squat, close to Largo São Francisco, downtown. In June, 2017, with the partnerships established with these educational areas, we have developed three dynamics with the children in classroom.
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In the first, we told a story about the transformation of a village, illustrating it with the Pop Ville book, which demonstrate in a very ludic way the emerging of infrastructures and the disappearing of greenery and public spaces from the city. We have modified the story slightly in order to insert the matter of children’s place in this new city and we asked the question: Where did the kids go? Where do kids play in this new city?
The story of a village which became a city. (1) At first, there was a church with a tower, which could be seen from far away. Everyone got to the village through the same road and found some of the locals around that church. There were men, women and children, who enjoyed strolling through the field and visiting other villages, in order to get what they needed to live. One day, so that they wouldn’t have to travel to the neighboring villages anymore, they decided to learn to build, and they created a city using their bare hands. (2) This way, they could travel less and accumulate the items they needed, which also attracted residents from neighboring villages. Kids would watch that transformation and, little by little, saw that the pile of bricks became a new set of houses and warehouses. (3) The work never stopped and the noise from the construction took over the city. The hammer banged, tractors raised dust, and the machines took over the community day and night. The spaces around the church, which used to be filled with trees, now were covered with new buildings that housed new activities. (4) More and more, new people arrived and new routes were open. Trees were now only seen in the distance, from the road, when someone was arriving or leaving the city, or in plazas, where men and women could rest during the breaks from building the new city. (5) The city grew and took over the entire space. The railroad arrived at the city, and the place now looked completely different. Where one could see the church tower before, now it was only possible to see the clock and the chimneys. People who lived in the neighboring villages also moved to the city and, little by little, everybody would pass each other in the streets. But one day they realized something had happened‌ (6) Now the streets were everywhere. The city noises were all around. But in the big city, built by men and women, no one could see the children anymore. Where did the children end up? What could a child do in the city?
7
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At first, the children answered naturally about the reasons why there were few kids in the streets. There seems to be normal that the street was not a place for children, and that they spent most of their time enclosed inside controlled spaces and dedicated most of their leisure with technology, after all, they were born in this reality. “The children, are inside a place, they are at school, in the school bus, in the car”. “They are somewhere in the city, playing anyway”. “They are playing videogames, playing with a smartphone”. (students from the public schools) “There isn’t much to do in the streets”. “Kids stay inside their homes, playing with technology”. (students from private schools) We quickly notice a clear difference between the relationships these kids have with the city. The kids from private school, contaminated by the adults’ experience The children, are inside a place, they are at school, in the school bus, in the car”. “They are somewhere in the city, playing anyway”. “They are playing videogames, playing with a smartphone”. Children from the Curumim project visiting the Monteiro Lobato library, Rotary square, photos by Juliana Flahr.
students from the public schools
“In the street, they are in danger of being run over”. “They (the kids) can be murdered”. “Kids can be taken, kidnapped” students from private schools
and vision, have an absolute fear of the streets and virtually no experience in the city. Most go to school by car and are rarely in public spaces. To them, the street represents a constant threat to their lives and their physical integrity. “In the street, they are in danger of being run over”. “Even on the sidewalk it is dangerous, because people keep looking are their cell phones and can run into a lamp post”. “They (the kids) can be murdered”. “Kids can be taken, kidnapped”. (students from private schools)
many cars”. “You have to be careful not to be robbed”. “There are no kids because there isn’t a plaza”. (kids from public schools) One sad highlight is the reaction children from public schools and living in the José Bonifácio squat had. If on one side, children from private schools see with terror the possibility of playing in the street, the children from the squatted building fear the way they are treated, the prejudice they suffer, from people from different social levels. Besides, to them, the street represents the risk of doing the wrong thing”. (children from public schools, living in the JB squat).
“Outside we suffer prejudice”. “In the street we run the risk of doing wrong thing.” students from public schools, living in the JB squat
As for children who attend the Curumin project are used to walking around the city. Many go to school on foot, all of them visit and play in plazas of the area, a regular activity developed by the Curumim project, and some even play in the street, in front of their homes. They know and worry about the dangers of the city, but in a less terrorized way. “This city is very dangerous. There are 9
the everyday spaces
Children and the free spaces of every day This difference in reality and experience in the city is emphasized when we carried out the second activity with the children. Inspired by the work of collective mapping developed by the Argentinian collective Iconoclasistas, with which we had contact during the International Seminar of 2017 held by Escola da Cidade, we developed a table of icons with activities, actions and feelings connected to the children’s relationships with the free spaces of every day. We gave each group, of 4 or 5 kids, four tables, each one representing a free space the children walk through in their everyday life: their residential yard, their school yard, the plaza and the street (like the ones on the following page). 10
We asked the little ones to glue small adhesive dots to the icons of the activities, actions and feelings, in order to illustrate the activities they could engage in (green dots), the ones they could not engage in (red dots) and those they would like to engage in (yellow dots) in each spaces of the everyday life. The spaces left blank mean that the activity was not relevant to the place or to the child. Children were very willing towards the invitation to the activity and worked on it as a game, in which they had to talk about their experiences and try to record their participation in the group’s chart.
Iconoclasistas is a duo formed by Julia Risler and Pablo Ares in 2006. They elaborate projects combining graphic arts, creative mapping, and collective investigation. All their productions are promoted on the internet through creative commons licenses, enhancing free circulation and its derivative use.
HOME
SCHOOL
SQUARE
STREET
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the everyday spaces private school
The result of the activity is consolidated in the following charts and, although the sample we have is significant, the intention is not to read the results as a quantitative research. What interest us is to observe the main trends and the comparison between the three groups of children (students from private schools, from public schools and from public schools living in a squat), noticing the differences and similarities in perceiving the spaces and comparing the experiences of the four environments (home, school yard, plaza and street) in each group. Besides that, we want to filter the main learning experiences, which could be employed in the project guidelines. In general, the experience in protected and private environments (home and school) brings the everyday life of private and public schools children closer (the exception are the children living in the José Bonifácio squat, who experience a reality of need and exclusion, not comparable to the other two groups). As for the experience in public spaces, the differences in the groups are accentuated, as we have already mentioned.
public school
public school JB
can do can’t do would like to do
12
private school
private school
private school
public school
public school
public school
public school JB
public school JB
public school JB
13
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key learning experiences Both for the private school and the public school children, the place of residence is where they feel protected and free to engage in a series of leisure activities: physical activities such as running, jumping, playing with balls; cultural activities such as drawing, coloring, reading, writing, listening to music, playing a musical instrument; playing with other children; having fun using technology (TV, videogames, social media) and eating their favorite foods and snacks. The two groups miss being able to engage in open air activities, such as playing in the playground, skateboarding and playing volleyball. Playing a musical instrument without noise restrictions, such as the drums, is also a common desired for both groups. All the kids also agree they shouldn’t mistreat or hurt another child, even at home. The private school children seem to have a more guarded everyday life at home, since they are not allowed to climb or jump on things, make too much noise (singing or any group manifestation). On the other hand, the use of technology seems to be more accessible and free for this group. Consolação, photo photo 069, Tuca Vieira.
atlas,
The chart of students living in the squat reveals the lack of leisure activities in these children’s everyday life. In order to keep structure, the squat administration establishes very strict rules that must be followed in order to keep the group in the building. Making messes or noise is not allowed inside the building, and children cannot go to the street unsupervised. The administration of the squatted building searches for school and extra school activities in order to keep the kids busy and away from the threat of a criminal life. The result is that children are not allowed to do almost anything besides eating, watching television, playing videogames and drawing inside their homes. They are in great need of open air activities, both physical and cultural.
Private and public school students show that the school gives access to sport (soccer, basketball and volleyball), cultural (arts, theater and music) activities, but all of them are educational. They need more radical and free playing activities, such as skateboarding and roller skating, climbing and jumping. They wish they could play the guitar or the drums, maybe
set up a band. They know that if they break the rules of politeness they will be punished, and images such as dancing upside down, public demonstrations or fighting with another group illustrate that. The main difference between both groups is that the private school children seem to enjoy going to school more than their public school counterparts, who attend the Curumim projects. One hypothesis is that the kids participating in this project are part of a more collaborative and free educational project, which makes school seem more limiting. Even though the children living in the squat possibly attend the same schools and the Curumim kids, the former, belonging to lower social class and inferior situation, do not feel so well at school, probably because they feel excluded and stigmatized as “homeless children”. One of their main desires is to feel welcome in the group.
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key learning experiences HIGHLIGHTS In general, there seems to be a consensus between the groups that the plaza is a place for everyone. For the children, the families, elderly and the disabled. For both the private and public school children, the plaza is the space where they feel or imagine, where they have more freedom. The plaza is the environment where they can engage in more radical activities that are not allowed at home or at school, such as roller skating, skateboarding, climbing, running and jumping. For those who are used to going to these spaces, they know they can do anything at the plaza, except disrespect another person or be sad. The only thing they miss is more autonomy to go to the plaza by themselves. Private school children agree the plaza is a place to be happy and show the desire to enjoy this experience more. Contrary to what we imagined, the children living in the JosÊ Bonifacio squat are not allowed to go to the plaza by themselves and do not have access to the playground and other sport and leisure equipment. To them, the plaza is a place where they feel, once again, excluded. 16
To all children, being in the street means being completely outdoors, exposed to the sun and the rain, and this brings positive sensations. Private and public school children don’t seem to know exactly what to do in the street, besides going out to eat, but at the same time they seem to crave playing more in the street, so that they can engage in activities that are not allowed at home or at school, activities that would be possible at the plaza, but not every day, since they do not go there very often; even for the children who attend the Curumim project, they do not go to the plaza more than once a week. Children, want to play every day. Once again the perception of the children living in the squat is filtered through the lenses of restriction and exclusion. Activities like playing ball, dancing and flying a kite, which other children desire, are considered forbidden by them.
The connection between the plaza and the school may be very interesting for the institution and its students. The school furthers its educational territory, including experiencing the city, in the school curriculum and granting the children more freedom the play on their day to day life. The street and the free spaces for pedestrians can be turned into places for meeting up and playing for these children of different socialeconomical levels. The children have a recurring desire for more radical open air activities, such as roller skating, skateboarding, climbing, running and jumping. Besides soccer, the kids enjoy playing volleyball outside. Music fascinates all children, especially the guitar and the drums. Being under the sun and the rain is only allowed when someone is outside, walking the streets, and can be fun.
Kids play on Paulista Avenue on a Sunday, photo by Eduardo A Carvalho.
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THE PATH BETWEEN THE SQUARE AND THE SCHOOL
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After we get off the bus on Consolação Street, we cross the street headed to the cemetery, and we reached Coronel José Eusébio Street. Otto looks at me and says, “this is the ramp!”. I look and see a court taken by the cemetery wall, filled with parked cars, a bunch of garbage and dropping on the sidewalk, and I don’t understand their exclamation. I see the smile in his face, look again and see a continuous sidewalk, with no driveway, with a gradual slope, an ideal place for a child to run and perfect for one of our interventions. I would never have noticed it by myself.
The third and last activity developed with the children was a kind of counter cartography of the route from the school to the plaza. This dynamic was carried out only with the private school and the Curumim project students. The group of children living in the José Bonifácio squat was too small and dispersed before this activity took place. First, we organized the kids in groups of four or five. We gave each group an A2 paper sheet and pen or pencil to color. We asked them to draw the ideal route (safest and most fun) for the children to walk through from the educational area to the plaza with the most autonomy.
After about thirty minutes after the activity began, we handed the kids a chart of icons they could add to the drawing, in order to verify recurring imagens on the routes. Besides the drawings, we followed and observed the children walking the streets in their way home and the schoolplaza route. School-square route: We followed two kids in their home-school route: 1) Otto, a 6 year old boy who lives in the Copan building and takes the bus to go to his public school, Ofélia Fonseca, accompanied by his parents or by another responsible adult; 2) e Violeta, an 11 year old girl who attends Equipe,
a private school, and walks home by herself or with friends to her apartment close to the Buenos Aires Park. Educational area-square route: We followed two groups of the Curumim project, from SESC Consolação, on their weekly stroll to the nearby plazas. With the morning group, we visited the Rotary Square, and with the afternoon group, we went to the Buenos Aires Park.
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idealizing the path By analyzing the drawings, once again, we noticed the different relationship the private and public students have with the city. The kids from the Curumim project (most of them students from public schools) have created a route very grounded in reality. As for the private school students, they idealized a route much more connected to fantasy, which indicates their detachment from the urban life. In the Curumim students’ city, we can see the everyday experience of these children, who walk more, use public transportation and visit plazas in the area, weekly, guided by SESC. There seems to be a more chaotic, messier city, which is a better mirror to the complexity and the conflicts of the everyday life in the city. On the route created by the children from the educational area to the plaza we can see a diversity of establishments that kids identify with the city, such as bookstores, electronics store, movie theater, theaters, music schools, art schools, sport schools, pet shop, diner, pizza parlor, bakery, ice cream shop. We also found collective equipment such as hospital, library, college, as well as elements of mobility infrastructure, such as Minhocão (an elevated highway), bus terminal, parking lots e bike lane. 20
These kids also tend to show a little more diversity of people passing through this route, which is shared by children, adults, senior citizens and wheelchair users. As for the exercise with the private school students, most of the drawings seem to reveal the lack of knowledge and identification of these children with urbanity. Many drawings make reference to cartoons, videogames and fairy tales. In these we find streets paved with mint candy, flying chicken, money spitting machines, ice cream rain, and videogame heroes who kill and arrest villains, for example. Other drawings made by these children show an organized and idyllic city, where everything seems to work well and nothing is out of place. A rainbow, dirt path, lake, a house with a pools and private court are part these illustrations, that seem to reveal an everyday life confined within condominiums and shopping and leisure centers. When the drawings are closer to reality, they are not as diverse or complex as those described by the public school students, and the recurring establishments that show up along the way are shopping centers, toy shops,
bakery and ice cream parlors. Another striking difference between both groups was how the illustrate the plaza. Kids from the Curumim project reflect in their drawings their knowledge and everyday interaction with the public space. Most of the drawings show a richly detailed plaza, with the existing elements, such as trees, benches, playground, court and library. Some drawings even include a skate lane, a climbing wall and a trampoline as objects of desire. The drawings made by the private school students seem to emphasize the lack of affinity these children have with the plaza, since most of them show a more outside view the plaza, rather than from the inside. Others simply suppress the illustration of the plaza. What both groups have in common is the desire to eat meals out, like eating in diners, bakeries, pizza places, ice cream parlors etc. Another similarity is that, even though the route is idealized by the children in order to become safer and more fun, they almost never appear in the represented sidewalks. The kids usually are in school, at the plaza or in enclosed space, such as other educational areas (dance schools, music schools, sport schools etc.), cultural spaces (movie
theater, theater, library), stores, diners, ice cream parlors, pizza places, bakeries etc. When a kid shows, the car is clearly excluded or forbidden, which shows the perception of a lack of priority faced by pedestrians. In on drawing the children drew a helicopter on the crosswalk, highlighting that this would be the only safe way to cross the street. Now, if for them, the presence of a car is incompatible with an ideal route for children, a bicycle is a great ally. It appears in virtually every drawing and in many of them is followed by a bike lane. Finally, a common value to these children is nature. All of them have drawn or glued trees and flowers in their drawings and would like the route and the plaza to be clean and better cared for.
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the use of icons During the drawing activity, in which the kids should illustrate the ideal route from the educational area to the plaza, the groups were given the following chart of icons about thirty minutes after the activity began. The children could choose to use those figure or not. We have observed that the children from the Curumim project (the majority of which are public school students) tended to use more the icons than the students from the public schools, which could emphasize the connection of the former with the urban reality. On the next page, we show a general table of how often these icons appear. But, it is important to point out, we are talking about how many drawings the icon appears in, not how many units of the icon were used, since in many drawings the same icon could be used repeatedly. Another observation is that we only included in the general table the icons that appeared in at least two drawings. Again, our goal is not to read the table in quantitative terms, but to observe some possible trends. The occurrence of icons in the drawings in the two groups seems to show about: People: perception of higher diversity of 22
people in the route created by the public school students (most used icons were person with older dog, wheelchair user, protester, on the route). Sports, open air recreation an urban furniture: greater knowledge and use of the plaza by public school students (most used icons were outdoor sports and recreation, except for being under the sun, urban furniture, in the plaza). Culture: higher diversity of cultural program on the route of the city created by the Curumim project children (e.g.: most used icons were those related to culture, on the route). Food, technology, and nature: in these three items the differences become small or balance out, which indicates they are themes valued by children in a more horizontal way Mobility: the high degree of identification both groups have shown with the bicycle, with public school students showing a little more affinity with public transportation, on the route.
Table of icons used by the children, in their drawings. Next to it, general table, showing the occurrence of icons in the drawings.
PEOPLE PESSOAS
2
2
3
1
2
0
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
0
3
1
0
0
4
2
2
0
4
3
0
1
2
0
0
6
1
2
1
6
0
2
1
2
0
1
1
3
5
2
2
1
4
0
0
2
0
1
0
2
5
3
0
4
1
2
0
4
0
4
0
4
0
2
0
1
0
2
0
3
0
2
1
3
0
2
2
1
3
4
1
3
1
1
0
0
2
1
1
2
4
0
0
1
2
0
1
0
0
1
4
2
1
1 1 1 0 INDOOR RECREAÇÃO RECREATION INDOOR
0
3
1
1
3
1
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
2
1
1
0
0
2
0
1
0
3
1
1
4
2
1
1
4
1
3
0
0
1
1
3
1
1
0
0
4
2
2
1
4
0
4
0
4
0
2
0
5
0
4
0
3
0
3
0
2
0
3
0
2
0
1
0
SPORTS ESPORTES
OUTDOOR RECREAÇÃO RECREATION OUTDOOR
0
0
1
3
CULTURE CULTURA
FOOD COMIDA
TECHNOLOGY TECNOLOGIA
NATURE NATUREZA
URBAN MOBILIÁRIO FURNITURE URBANO
ícone ICON
4
5
4
2
3
4
3
2
0
1
0
3
6
0
4
0
6
2
7
0
8
0
5
1
7
0
3
0
3
MOBILITY
MOBILIDADE
5
0
2
6
4
4
3
3
4
2
##drawings desenhos that used icons com o ícone
public private escola escola school school pública privada atna thepraça square
2
atna thepraça square
3
the route noon caminho
3
the route noon caminho
4
0
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SCHOOL
SQUARE Both drawings illustrate well the complexity of the city as perceived by the public school students. 24
drawing #1 children, Curumim project
SCHOOL
SQUARE
Besides several establishments, we noticed the bike lane on drawing #1(in red) and the sidewalk on drawing #2 (in brown).
drawing #2 children, Curumim project
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SQUARE
SCHOOL
We see clearly the value and knowledge by these children of equipment and activities at the plaza. 26
drawing #3 children, Curumim project
SCHOOL
SQUARE
SQUARE
Besides the Buenos Aires Park, which was the destination asked for in the dynamic, the kids included the Rotary Square spontaneously.
drawing #4 children, Curumim project
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SCHOOL
SQUARE
The importance given to the crosswalk and to the child, who appears everywhere and is larger than the car, catches the eye. 28
drawing #5 children, Curumim project
SQUARE
SCHOOL
The helicopter is pointed out by the kids as the only safe way to cross the crosswalk.
drawing #6 children, Curumim project
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SQUARE
SCHOOL
In this drawing, the car is forbidden, the only vehicle allowed are the Animacars, small cars driven by children at shopping malls. 30
drawing #7 children, Curumim project
SQUARE
SCHOOL
With the inclusion of the Santa Casa Hospital and the elevated highway, we notice the familiarity the children have with the city equipment.
drawing #8 children, Curumim project
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SQUARE
SCHOOL
In these private school kids’ fantasy, the city is an amusement park, filled with snacks and candy, and the street is covered in peppermint. 32
drawing #9 children, private school
SCHOOL SQUARE
In this route, it rains ice cream and money. In both drawings, there are no cars, and the illustration of the plaza is very simplified.
drawing #10 children, private school
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SCHOOL
SQUARE
The city, the route, and the plaza are converted in a videogame, with a hero and a villain. The only contact with reality is the bakery. 34
drawing #11 children, private school
L
O
S C HO
SQUARE The city is turned into a bucolic park, with a wooden, dirt road, with a lake, where the car is not allowed.
drawing #12 children, private school
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SCHOOL
SQUARE
The city between the school and the plaza is limited to the students’ houses and the shopping mall, in an environment of a perfect paradise. 36
drawing #13 children, private school
SQUARE
SCHO OL Again, the illustration of the city is very simplified, being restricted to the shopping mall, toy shop, games and diners.
drawing #14 children, private school
37
SQUARE
SCHOOL
In these two last drawings, the city already becomes more elaborated, but the affinity with the plaza still seems small. 38
drawing #15 children, private school
SCHOOL
SQUARE
They also highlight the importance of continuing the route and valuing the bicycle and the bike lane.
drawing #16 children, private school
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key learning experiences
1. Continuity. The best route for the kids is the most uninterrupted, with less crossing and less interrputions caused by driveways. Most drawings made by the children reveals this search for continuity, since very few indicate streets crossing. When they do, attention is paid to emphasize the pedestrian is the priority. This importance of continuity is indicated in school manuals. Implication: search for more continuous sidewalks and appropriation of walls, since the positive aspect of large walls is exactly the continuity. 2. We must cross! In the last intersection, before getting to the Buenos Aires Park, we noticed two boys (from the younger groups, about seven years old) took each other’s hand before crossing the street. Upon reaching the other side, they let go of each other and continue their journey, anxious to get to the park. We asked both boys why they joined hand to cross the street, and they answered sweetly, “because this way we get less scared”.
Private school children drawing during the activity, photo by Joana Andrade.
Crossing a street is inevitable, there is no continuous path. In the drawings and talks with the children, we noticed this is their biggest fear for the smaller
ones, and they ask the priority for the pedestrian to be respected. In the conversation with the teachers of the Curumim project, and with Carolina Padilha, one of the founders of the Carona a Pé project, choosing the route to the plaza or the school takes into consideration the existence of a crossline and the traffic lights. The choice always prioritizes the safest intersection (longest traffic lights and pedestrian crossing bottoms), instead of the shortest one. Implication: consulting traffic department manuals, in order to figure out ways to make intersections safer. 3. Time & Distance. The time and distance are very different for children, especially for the smaller ones. In general, they get tired and bored more easily. It was not hard to notice the boredom in Otto’s face, while we were taking the bus to get to school. He thinks the school is too far away from home, and would have preferred to just walk there. As for Violeta, all proud, she introduced us to a shortcut in order to overcome the difference between Doutor Veiga Filho Street and Higienópolis Avenue, using the service
elevator of the Higienópolis shopping mall. Implication: shortcuts and meeting points/ stops are welcome. 4. Less cars, more play. In many drawings made by the kids, the presence of the car is suppressed to make room for the child. The fear of being hit or run over is very present in their lives, since they are constantly alerted by the adults about this risk. For them, it is very clear that the presence of a child in the city is inversely related to the presence of a car. Less cars for them means more freedom to walk, play, run, ride their bikes, toy scooters, roller skates, etc. The creation of streets for playing (streets closed for cars on Sundays) and a huge evidence for that. On the other hand, we need to think about a city where adults and children, cars and scooters, can coexist and respect each other. Implication: avoiding less intense traffic and high speed routes.
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key learning experiences 5. Beauty & Obstacle. We were at the Buenos Aires Prak playground when a kid asked to use the restroom. The teacher gave him direction, “go out that gate, then turn right”. The first went to the restroom, following the directions given but the teacher. Then, another kid shouted “I’m going too”, took off and, instead of leaving through the gate, he climbed the water fountain and jumped the fence, while his friends watched mesmerized. Following a sequences,
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four or five kids repeated the same path discovered by the friend. According to Irene Quintáns1 in an interview to Folha de S.Paulo (2017) “they (the kids) see beauty and obstacle everywhere”. The way a child looks at the city is very different from an adult. They turn a curbing, a ramp, stairs, a bench, railings, a wall, or anything into a toy and a challenge to test their limits. The same applies to the beauty, kids see
beauty in everything. A small shrub, a flower garden, a fruit tree, a wall covered with graffiti, or an intriguing photo can become a route for a child. On the other hand, an ideal city is an amusement park, so there needs to be a filter to transform their desire in architecture: yes to the ludic, no to the exclusively infantile.
Implication: to obtain the best from the concept of ambivalence, to think of interventions that serve the purpose of children playing, but also are useful for the adults, for the city.
(1) Architect, urbanist specialized in Territorial Studies, Social Policies, Mobility, Housing and Urban Management. Vice-president of IPA Brazil (Brazilian Association for the Right to Play).
6. All you can eat! Both the drawings and the observations of the kids walking the streets, we realized the main points that help them to situate themselves in the city are related to food: bakery, restaurant, diner, ice cream parlor, candy shop. It makes sense, since they often go out to the streets with the adults, and have their meals out. Also, these are places that bring pleasant experiences.
Implication: when creating of a childfriendly network (an important tool used in school routes), food related establishments are key, especially those with permeable front, because they are easily recognizable and accessible for kids.
Children of the Curumim project at the Buenos Aires Park, photos by Joana Andrade.
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guega rocha carvalho . grocha.carvalho@gmail.com