Project implementation: Brazil
Project development: Brazil
Students: Anna Luiza Domingos
Guidance: Iazana Guizzo
The project "Suburban Roots: Ecological Recovery in Penha" addresses topics such as climate adaptation, environmental preservation, ecological restoration, river development, urban parks, and green cities. The proposal is based on the powerful connection between forest and city, thus developing an integrated solution from the Serra da Misericórdia to its confluence with Guanabara Bay.
Using an affective and participatory storytelling methodology, the project interventions emerge from interspecific narratives of the residents of the traditional suburban neighborhood. Therefore, the proposal is divided into four urban typologies: Serra da Misericórdia, Complexo Verde, Bairro Verde, and Parque Alagável Maria Angú. Furthermore, the work analyzes the streets, resulting in a proposed green network with distinct approaches for each type of street.
The project also addresses pressing issues such as sea level rise, rising temperatures, landslides, and flooding—some of the main challenges of climate adaptation not only in Rio de Janeiro but also in other coastal cities. Thus, the proposal addresses preexisting factors in the neighborhood and others that will emerge or worsen over the years.
The detailed section of the Bairro Verde typology explores the issue of urban rivers, bringing the Atlantic Forest to the city and detailing the selection of native species based on local emotional histories and fauna. Thus, the project draws inspiration from Penha itself, its residents, their emotional stories, and nature to address climate adaptation in Rio de Janeiro.
Anna Luiza Domingos graduated from the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She grew up in Penha, a traditional neighborhood in Rio's suburbs, and developed the Suburban Roots project in the place where her own roots lie. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in the Floresta Cidade extension, teaching, and research project, where she deepened her interest in the interaction between the forest and the city, researching other worldviews and possibilities for inhabiting the planet.
Iazana Guizzo is an adjunct professor at the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and coordinator of the Floresta Cidade extension, teaching, and research group. She is the author of the book "Reactivating Territories: The Body and Affection in the Participatory Project Question." She holds a PhD in Urbanism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 2014. She completed a PhD at the Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris (2012 and 2013). She holds a master's degree from the UFF's graduate program in Psychology (2008) and a master's degree in contemporary ballet from the Angel Vianna program in 2011. Her research interests focus on regeneration and coexistence with biomes, particularly related to Afro-Amerindian, activist, and artistic cultures in Brazil.