JARDIM FILHOS DA TERRA
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2012.
The following pictures are a selection of the photoessay that is part of the research Spontaneous Living Spaces developped since 2012. The research investigates the culture of living in its public and private, open and closed, spaces in different socio-economic-cultural environments through the survey and analysis of self-built settlements.
Self-built settlements are the spontaneous answer to the spatial need of home and represent an important expression of the local culture of living.
In the research project the case studies’ culture of living is recorded during the onsite survey through a direct involvement and contact with the community and is represented through a flexible number of representation tools comprising photographs, videos, sketches, architectural drawings, urban schemes, interviews, diagrams (etc.).
The reportage includes 13 photographs of the favela Guapira II in the northern area of Sao Paulo plus a video. The neighborhood is also called Jardim Filhos da Terra. The work was published in several papers and in two monographies, the first edited by Pacini Editore (2014) and the second by Letteraventidue (2021).
Up to today Spontaneous Living Spaces comprises three case studies: Sao Paulo (Brazil), Hong Kong (China) and Pemba (Mozambique).
Maria Eduarda Chaves, at that time 8 years old resident of the neighbourhood, knowing the work I was carrying out in the area, spontaneously recorded this video illustrating the house of her aunt. Maria Eduarda and her family were precious guides to the neighbourhood life and community. The video was edited by Corinna Del Bianco and Jacopo Mangiameli.
