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Jardim Lapena Social Housing
Jardim Lapena Social Housing
Imagining living in Jardim Lapena and São Miguel is an interesting opportunity to reflect on building, not as an end in itself, but as a way of sharing the knowledge of doing. To this end, the project unfolds from a territorial look at the difficulties, potentialities and beauties of living in Jardim Lapena and the affective bonds that are cultivated there. During the visit, we came across several situations that touched us. The first was certainly the generosity in which we were welcomed, the intelligence, despite being imposed by social and economic conditions, in the direct and economic way of building, the demand for housing and certainly the way in which the territory is continually treated as a place of deposit, of what a priori is not valued in other places. When faced with one of these situations, the old soccer field now landfilled, we envision the possibility of re-imagining the deposited matter there and its transformation into space. So we propose as the first act of what will be built, a small cement brick factory, which would transform what was rejected into edifying matter. With such an act we can guarantee that a considerable part of the invested resources will remain in the community, as well as recovering the soccer field there, which on days of heavy rain works as a containment basin.
Starting from the raw material to the requested program, we composed a series of housing arrangements that formed not a closed project but a range of possibilities. They are an invitation to an open dialogue. Its arrangement, starts with the direct stacking of the bricks, arranged in a "C" shape, which, due to its stable geometry, reduces the consumption of concrete. Through its gaps, light floods the spaces and the wind crosses the interior of the dwellings, bringing a constant sensation of freshness.
The two insertions have different geometries but are based on the same strategy, the conformation of a public ground floor, with the requested program and patios with a more reserved character, in which the accesses to the dwellings and more voluminous vegetation are concentrated.By creating this microclimate, we increase the pressure difference, thus enhancing cross ventilation. As we go up the units increase in size, decreasing in quantity and in matter and blurring the contours of the building in the landscape.
For the pedestrian crossing between Jardim Lapena and the neighborhood of São Miguel, we re-imagined accesses and flows with the clear objective of bringing greater clarity and safety to passers-by. Structurally, the walkway is made up of precast concrete pieces, which are stacked and arranged in a simple and straightforward manner. Its headwaters not only act as landmarks in the landscape, but also propose complementary functions for the immediate surroundings, which corroborate with the activities already carried out by the community.
Finally, what we propose is an inclusive process, based on a holistic view of Jardim Lapena and the neighborhood of São Miguel, which involves reflections on economic models, raw materials, living and making the city. We understand that this moment is a conversation that has begun, and we are very interested in continuing it.
Author: Gustavo Utrabo
Team: Fernanda Britto, Julia Frenk, Keith Weiley, Mae Smith, Bruna Moreira