Casario-arquitetura ribeirinha: um novo olhar para os igarapés de Manaus - 14ᵃ Bienal Internacional de Arquitetura de São Paulo

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Student: Victoria Emanuelle Belo da Silva

The development of affordable housing in the Amazon often ignores the region's environmental and cultural peculiarities, adopting standardized, fragile solutions disconnected from the riverside lifestyle. The Casario project emerges as an alternative, proposing an architecture that combines technical innovation, local identity, and ecological respect, focused on decent housing and territorial regeneration.

The design is inspired by riverside houses and stilt houses, reinterpreting these typologies according to contemporary criteria. Certified wood structures combined with concrete pillars ensure strength, durability, and natural ventilation. Passive strategies, such as solar orientation, shading between volumes, and ventilated roofs, promote thermal comfort and energy efficiency without relying on artificial systems.

Located in a Special Area of Social Interest (AEIS) on Avenida Brasil in Manaus, the complex integrates green spaces, community amenities, and collective spaces, strengthening coexistence, belonging, and solidarity networks. Two-story semi-detached blocks feature a variety of typologies, taking advantage of the prevailing ventilation and creating air corridors that function as cooling tunnels, improving indoor and outdoor microclimates.

In the environmental sphere, the proposal works to restore urban streams through natural drainage, artificial wetlands, and biological filters, transforming degraded areas into ecological corridors that connect the natural environment to the city. Thus, inhabitation also means restoring ecosystems, respecting water cycles and traditional ways of life.

Community participation is crucial. The use of regional timber enables assisted self-construction, maintains local techniques, and strengthens ties with the region. Public, private, and housing cooperative partnerships increase economic and social viability, promoting inclusion, autonomy, and local leadership.

Casario demonstrates that social housing, environmental restoration, and cultural appreciation can coexist. By harmonizing vernacular knowledge, modern construction solutions, and ecological care, the project redefines the relationship between city, nature, and society, offering a model of sensitive and sustainable urbanism in the urban Amazon.

Victoria Emanuelle Belo da Silva, a native of Manaus, develops projects that combine environmental preservation and architectural innovation. Her practice emphasizes the restoration of degraded territories and the promotion of local knowledge, contributing to more just and sustainable Amazonian cities.

Participate in the program of debates, workshops and associated activities!

TODAY (10.10)

2:30 pm – table Risk-Free Periphery in the Context of Climate Change

4pm – table Knowing to Transform: Community Climate Risk Reduction and Adaptation Plans

6:30 pm – table Inclusive Adaptation: Nature-Based Solutions in the Peripheries

9am – Drawing Workshop: Oscar Niemeyer's Architecture in Ibirapuera Park and the Climate Challenge

IN THE NEXT DAYS (11 to 14.10)

ATTENTION the table Palmas: For 36 years, the ecological capital of Tocantins which would be held on 10/11 | 7pm was canceled.

11.10 and 12.10 | 9am – workshop Inventa(rio) Fronteiras: Playing for Multispecies Cities

11.10 | 10am – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 11am – table Learning to inhabit the Anthropocene: the crisis of architecture

11.10 | 2pm – table Architecture for Learning and Civic Use

11.10 | 3pm – table Culture and Public Architecture

11.10 – 15h – workshop Elémenterre teaching bag

11.10 | 4pm – table Reconnecting with Nature & Circular Design

11.10 | 5pm – table Architecture of Belonging: Interpreting Heritage Through Place

12.10 | 10am – table Experience: Climate Refuges and Naturalized Public Spaces, with Eco-Neighborhood

12.10 | 10:30 am – table Childhoods and Climate: Climate Justice in Vulnerable Territories

12.10 | 10:30 am – Windsock Workshop with the Floating Collective

12.10 | 3pm – table Doing a lot with a little: architectures for a planet in transition with Esteban Benavides from Al Borde office

12.10 | 4:30 pm – table Earth – building a sustainable and democratic future

12.10 | 5:45 pm – table French presence at the Biennale and screening of the film AJAP – Albums of Young Architects and Landscape Architects

13.10 – activity Pantanal Action at IABsp

10/14 | 10am – table Urgent Panorama! Space as an act of permanence

14.10 | 6pm – Launch of the “Nature-Based Education” Guide

JOIN! IT'S ALL FREE!

And there's much more until October 19th!

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.

Riverside architecture: a new look at the streams of Manaus

Fametro University Center