Parque SitiĂŞ, Urban Park and Institute for the Environment, Arts, and Technology Favela do Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil David Fiske & Will Roberts Arch 533 4/16/2015
Team:
Mauro Quintanilha Petronilho, Founder and President Pedro Henrique de Cristo, Founder and Director/Lead Architect Paulo da Silva, Founder and Advisor Manoel Alves, Founder and Vice President Paula Cesarino Costa, Secretary and Advisor Luis Silva, General Services Caroline Shannon de Cristo, Councilor and Architect Paulo Cesar de Almeida Patricia Villela Marino Marisa Moreira Salles Caludia Moreira Salles Tomas Alvim Carlos Augusto Junqueira Joshua David (Honorary Member)
Partners:
Community of Biroscao, Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro +D/Design with Purpose Studio Instituto PDR Arq.Futuro FGV-Direto Rio de Janeiro CMS Design
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In 2006, a community initiated project to reclaim a forgotten trash dump and forge a fresh public green space for the residents of Vidigal favela, Rio de Janeiro, resulted in the creation of a new urban eco-park: Parque Sitiê. Sitiê has since formed a powerful organizational framework in which local knowledge combines with smart capital and technical expertise to provide planning, design, and educational opportunities through bottom-up, directly democratic processes. The collaborative body not only ensures the sustainability of Parque Sitiê itself, but also addresses deeply embedded socioeconomic issues of education, gentrification, and political recognition and access. At once an environmental triumph through waste reclamation and site reforestation, the Sitiê project has also brought renewed social capital to the favela, and broadened economic opportunity for informal communities throughout Brazil. Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
After more than two decades of informal occupation, the structures on the slopes of Morro Dois Irmãos (“Two Brothers Hill”) were demolished as a result of the Favela Bairro period. The leftover debris encouraged residents of Vidigal favela to dump their household waste onto the site, and the low frequency of garbage collection in the favela led to the accumulation of more than 16 tons of garbage.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
In 2006, Vidigal residents Mauro Petronilho Quintanilha and Paulo César de Almeida initiated a community action to clean up the site. This mutirão, or collective mobilization towards a common goal, led to a six year process in which most of the trash was cleared. The effort produced a communal pride for the site, and it was recognized the sharp slopes with stunning views of the Atlantic ocean could provide a potential respite to a population in dire need of public green spaces. The site was given a name: Sitiê.
Mauro Quintanilha
Paulo César de Almeida
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Acknowledging the threat of informal dwelling infringement on the newly cleared park space, Mauro and Paulo prompted the reforestation of the site. In 2011, the community received seedling donations from the Botanical Garden of Rio, and through the planting and landscaping of SitiĂŞ successfully halted the encroachment of new housing.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Though most of the waste was disposed of, a large reclamation strategy was enacted to utilize reusable pieces in creative landscaping and agricultural efforts. Tires were used to form stairs and planters, plastic bottles were arranged as trail boundaries, and other fragments were constructed into practical and decorative structures. People began to take pride in their creations, and the community’s connection to Sitiê was strengthened.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
In 2012, Pedro Henrique de Cristo, a new Vidigal resident and recent graduate from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, began collaborating with the Sitiê members. He utilized his background in design and public policy to provide education on erosion control, agroforestry, environmental conservation, and responsible land use. Through his technical oversight, the park was able to attain a new level of organizational significance as Sitiê was recognized as Rio de Janeiro’s first agro-forest by the Department of Environment.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
The following year, the +D // Design with Purpose architecture studio, led by Pedro and his wife Caroline Shannon de Cristo, teamed with Sitiê to conduct long-term planning and design. Through this process Sitiê was able to attain seed funding from Instituto PDR, providing a salary and permanent employment to the team founders, and the subsequent regularization of the park. Later in 2013, Sitiê was recognized by Alejandro Echeverri, the pioneer of Social Urbanism, as the most important social innovation in Latin America.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Through this process, Sitiê grew from the original 1,800 m2 to include over 8,500 m2 of public park space. The incredible growth and recognition of the park brought with it the need for increased organizational capacity. To ensure the Vidigal community could remain engaged in the continued efforts of Sitiê, as well as broaden the organization’s ability to conduct public discourse and deliberation on community issues, a digital agora was launched in 2014. Agora Digital serves as a hub for dialogue and activism, not only in the favela, but the city at large, as important debates have been waged about title rights, financial sustainability, and the general empowerment of the underserved communities in Brazil’s slums.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Environment
Ecological
- Ecosystem health - Air quality - Erosion/landslide control - Wildlife conservation - Foster stewardship - Biophilia
Economic
Social
- Community collaboration - Local pride - Accessibility to open space
- Increase land values - Permanent employment in park
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Social
- Education - Self-realization/ empowerment - Sense of ownership/ belonging
Arts
Ecological
- Control erosion/landslide risk through landscape design - Sustainable education - Interaction with environment
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Economic
- Outside investment - Tourism/landmark for favela
Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Technology
Ecological
- Knowledge sharing - Model creation
Economic
- Attract and capture outside investment - Job opportunities - Increase land values without displacement 13
Social
- Political power/voice - Social cohesion and integration
Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie
Parque SitiĂŞ, from its inception, was a project led through direct community action and social resilience. The transformation from wasteland to landmark has transcended the original concept of creating an ecological park to bring forth a beacon of education, land reform, participatory democracy, and sustainability. Parque SitiĂŞ represents an ideal SEED project, as it addresses multiple facets of social, economic, and environmental issues through an organizational framework of collective governance and political empowerment, ensuring continued excellence into the future.
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Parque Urbano e Instituto Sitie