Paraísopolis – Transformation without Destruction

To the southeast of posh São Paulo neighborhood Morumbi is favela Paraísopolis, which came into existence in the 1970s. With about 84 thousand inhabitants it is one of the larger slums of São Paulo.

The favela is structured around an orthogonal grid of roads, which has given it the viability to evolve into a mature neighborhood.  It is known that the dwellers of the Peruvian slums (Pueblos Jovenes – Young Towns) anticipate in a similar way to future developments by adopting a comparable orthogonal grid. Though the outer limits of the blocks in Paraísopolis are relatively developed and urbanized, the inside of the blocks still represent a typical slum labyrinth with meandering streets and alleys.

The clash between São Paulo favela Paraisopolis and posh neighborhood Morumbi.

Architects office Vigliecca Associados picked up the grid and used it as a vehicle to accelerate the transformation of the slum. Their intervention focused on the redefinition and condensation of the  borders of the city blocks. This way the inner labyrinth of the blocks could be freed up to form an open space as a public space. With this strategy the disruption of communal fabric was minimized, as they continue to live in the same block, but on the borders rather than in the center.

Stimulating development by enforcing the borders.

The valleys have been given special attention too, especially where there were streams present. These are usually locations where flooding does appear, and where sanitation is an issue. In these locations parks were created to stimulate circulation in the neighborhood. With the introduction of the new building blocks the architects aim to stimulate and structure the urbanization of the young neighborhood without destroying the existing community.

Sources: Vigliecca & Associados, Arcoweb