One early morning in 2020, looking at a 1930 map of Vila Mariana, I made a huge discovery: a stream runs next to my house. The flow of this discovery culminated in the development of the urban design project: "The Sapateiro Stream Runs Through Here." Given the contradictions of today's city, which prevents us from breaking through the asphalt to bring hidden streams into the open, I sought a way to make this discovery public, representing the stream's path visibly along its path through the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
During an afternoon of urban wandering, two stencils marked points along the route "This is where the Sapateiro Stream runs": an orange one, delimiting the urban area and the park, and a blue one, outlining the stream. Over time, the signs became known and preserved by the neighborhood's residents.<\/p>\n
As a continuation of the project, commissioned by the Vila Mariana Residents' Association, a large mural (3.0 x 2.4 m) was commissioned to mark the course of the Sapateiro, Guar\u00edba, and Boa Vista streams, which feed the Ibirapuera Lakes and flow into the Pinheiros River. The project included the conception and design of the map, laser cutting of the stencil masks, and execution of the mural, which was inaugurated alongside the revitalization of the Sapateiro Stream source on September 3, 2021, in a festive atmosphere.<\/p>\n
As part of the 14th S\u00e3o Paulo International Architecture Biennial \u2014 Extremes: Architectures for a Warm World\u2014in line with the theme "Living with Water"\u2014the project resurfaces through a route that stretches from the top of the breakwater to the Oca (House of Water). The proposal seeks to reveal traces of water in the area surrounding the biennial, fostering cartographic contact with the outcrops of water that feed the park's lakes and reactivating the stencils that gave rise to the project five years ago.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Neistein is an urban architect with a degree from FAU USP and an office in Bom Retiro. He develops architectural projects at various scales, seeking a dialogue between architectural design and artistic practices linked to the territory.<\/p>\n