BAMBURRAL: THE FUTURE FAVELA [Engaged Design]

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL / 2010

The Future Favela: Bamburral Housing Regeneration and Public Landscape Plan

ENGAGED DESIGN | NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION | HOUSING REGENERATION | RECREATION - PEDESTRIAN INTERACTIONS | COMMUNITY - SCHOOL CONNECTIONS

This project challenges conventional notions of ground and formalization in informal settlements, redefining what it means to be included in the formal city. Initially, people build in favelas out of necessity—to secure housing. But as those homes deteriorate or are constructed on unstable, landslide-prone sites, the question of design and redevelopment shifts beyond basic infrastructure provision. Bamburral presented an opportunity to rethink not only how to stabilize the built environment but also how to reimagine the very ground on which communities organize their lives.

Rather than treating the favela as a static landscape, the design transforms it into a dynamic civic infrastructure. A polluted central waterway is redefined as an active public space, channelized and decked to create a new ground for social, economic, and ecological functions. This intervention links the community to the local school through a network of commercial, agricultural, and civic programs, while new forms of housing adaptation reinforce the relationship between built and open space. Buildings are adapted with flexible wall systems to accommodate changing household needs, vertical courtyards to improve light and airflow, and column reinforcements where necessary. More than a housing project, this approach generates new forms of public space and connectivity, offering a framework for favelas to evolve without erasure—one that recognizes informal settlements not just as sites of need but as landscapes of opportunity.