Entre o relevo e a luta: Morro das Placas e Joana D’Arc, territórios que resistem - 14ᵃ Bienal Internacional de Arquitetura de São Paulo

Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil

Students: Juan S., Érica C, Darliane G, Luan G, Luana P, Eduarda R, Mateus C, Jefferson F Sá

The climate emergency disproportionately affects marginalized populations—those with least access to adaptation and recovery resources. The intense impacts are not only the result of climate-related events, but also socially produced by exclusionary urbanization. This vulnerability is evident in the Joana D'Arc and Morro das Placas communities, in the Vicente Pinzón neighborhood of Fortaleza.

Located in an area of steep slopes and unstable soils, these territories present themselves as consolidated densities that are environmentally and socially fragile. The inherent risk of the communities' location is compounded by precarious housing and a lack of basic infrastructure, such as the absence of a drainage network and the scarcity of green and open spaces, reflecting a historical process of socio-spatial segregation.

Considering the context of environmental injustice, the integrated approach intervention proposes infrastructure and housing solutions in communities, incorporating them into the urban fabric and reversing the risk scenario into a resilient and responsive project that adapts to the local reality.

The project proposed solutions to facilitate drainage and basic sanitation, such as widening alleys, installing bioswales, and creating a support area for waste management. Considerations also included the installation of retaining walls to stabilize slopes often prone to landslides, and the construction of staircases to facilitate mobility in previously impassable areas.

Understanding that climate justice also relates to the right to the city, open spaces and leisure areas were designed using nature-based solutions, as well as the implementation of public facilities. For housing, in a combined strategy of housing improvements and nearby resettlement, passive environmental design solutions were considered for renovations and progressive typologies for new housing.

The proposals were developed collectively to address communities resisting exclusion and erasure. The team, comprised of Darliane Gomes, Eduarda Mércia, Érica Correia, Jefferson Freire, Juan Sousa, Luan Baltazar, Luana Gabrielle, Mateus Costa, and Sá Nogueira, all Architecture and Urban Planning students at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), sought to demonstrate social responsibility as public university students by focusing on marginalized and invisible areas of the debate, devising possible scenarios for improving the quality of life in these areas.

Sharing experiences in research programs and grants focused on technical advice in architecture and the city, climate change and cultural heritage, the team has interests in History and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism, Technologies Applied to Architecture and Urbanism, Urban Planning, Technical Advice and Social Housing.

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.

Between relief and struggle: Morro das Placas and Joana D'Arc, territories that resist

Federal University of Ceara