Rural Nexus.-

Politecnico di Milano, sede Piacenza Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Desing

Supervisors: Contin, Antonella

Tutors: Mistò, Federico Galiulo, Valentina

RURAL NEXUS+

A rural infrastructure to reconnect Cosme Velho and consolidate the carioca identity.

Julia Lis Franco Simone Savinetti

A.A. 2021 / 2022

Abstract

In un panorama globale, in cui le città sono in continua crescita, l’identità di ogni luogo è messa a dura prova dai cambiamenti fisi ci e spaziali che ne alterano le dinamiche interne e le relazioni con l’esterno. In questo contesto in continuo cambiamento il patrimonio che caratterizza ogni città risulta essere un elemento fragile, decon testualizzato rispetto al paesaggio metropolitano in cui sono inse rite. Così facendo i tessuti urbani si frammentano, perdono la loro funzione e vengono caratterizzati da fenomeni di informalità che ne pregiudicano la continuità e le condizioni di vita. L’OMS stima che entro i prossimi trent’anni la popolazione mondiale supererà i 9 miliardi, definendo un quadro che lascia intendere come, in contesti di disparità estreme all’interno del tessuto sociale, l’identità e la qualità del tessuto urbano costituisce una delle sfide più importanti del pros simo futuro. Come architetti ci siamo domandati come sia possibile racchiudere tali variabili all’interno di un progetto in grado di valoriz zare le qualità intrinseche di una città. Abbiamo perciò scelto il caso studio di Rio de Janeiro, una delle metropoli più popolose del pianeta che si divide tra un tessuto urbano estremamente denso e un contesto naturale rigoglioso, ma sempre più minacciato, in cui gli strumenti e le azioni messe in atto dalla municipalità poco hanno potuto per re golamentare l’inevitabile, e a tratti necessaria, formazione di contesti informali sempre più grandi. Diversi sono gli studi che hanno cercato di sviluppare strategie efficaci per far interagire tra loro queste di verse realtà, sempre più comuni a tutte le latitudini. Tra questi, ve rrà riproposto e in parte re-interpretato all’interno della nostra tesi il lavoro dell’architetto e professore dell’università della Pennsylvania, David Gouvernour. In questa ottica, il nostro progetto, the RURAL NEXUS, ha l’obiettivo di costituire sulle tracce del Bondinho di San ta Teresa e all’interno del contesto del quartiere di Cosme Velho, un continuum di infrastruttura rurale in grado di riunire all’interno di uno stesso palinsesto i simboli dell’identità Carioca conferendo autore volezza ai luoghi e ai simboli che affondano le radici nella storia della città. Primo fra tutti Largo do Boticario, una piccola piazza nascosta, caratterizzata dalla presenza di alcune Case in pieno stile Coloniale, simbolo di Cosme Velho ed esempio principale di una memoria anne bbiata di cui i cittadini cercano di riprendere possesso per affermare la loro identità. La nostra visione, pertanto, ci porta a considerare Largo do Boticario come una “stazione rurale” inserita in un sistema diffuso e multipolare nella valle del Rio Carioca e come il crocevia in cui far confluire le diverse realtà finora citate, definendo nuove soglie in grado di veicolare e tutelare la crescita di un tessuto urbano più consapevole, in continuità con la vita della metropoli in cui è inserito.

In a global landscape, where cities are constantly growing, the iden tity of each place is challenged by physical and spatial changes that alter its internal dynamics and relationships with the outside world. In this constantly changing context, the heritage that characterizes each city is a fragile element, decontextualized with respect to the metropolitan landscape in which they are inserted. In this way, the urban fabric fragments, loses its function and is characterized by in formality that undermines the continuity and conditions of life. The UN estimates that within the next thirty years the world population will exceed 9 billion, defining a picture that suggests that, in contexts of extreme disparities within the social fabric, the identity and quality of the urban environment is one of the most important challenges of the near future. As architects, we asked ourselves how it is possible to enclose these variables within a project capable of enhancing the intrinsic qualities of a city. We have therefore chosen the case study of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most populous metropolises on the planet that is divided between an extremely dense urban fabric and a lush, but increasingly threatened, natural environment, where the tools and actions implemented by the municipality have done little to regulate the inevitable, and at times necessary, formation of increasingly large informal contexts. There are several studies that have tried to develop effective stra tegies to make these different realities, increasingly common at all latitudes, interact with each other. Among these, the work of the ar chitect and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, David Gou vernour, will be proposed and partly re-interpreted in our thesis. With this in mind, our project, the RURAL NEXUS, aims to constitute on the traces of the Bondinho of Santa Teresa and within the context of the neighborhood of Cosme Velho, a continuum of rural infrastruc ture able to bring together within the same palimpsest the symbols of identity Carioca giving authority to places and symbols that are rooted in the history of the city. First of all Largo do Boticario, a small hidden square, characterized by the presence of some picturesque houses, symbol of Cosme Velho and main example of a foggy memory of which the citizens try to regain possession in order to assert their identity. Our vision, therefore, leads us to consider Largo do Botica rio as a “rural station” inserted in a widespread and multipolar system in the Rio Carioca valley and as the crossroads where the different realities mentioned so far converge, defining new thresholds able to convey and protect the growth of a more conscious urban fabric, in continuity with the life of the metropolis in which it is inserted.

RURAL NEXUS+

SITE CONTEXT

CHAPTER 01_

- About Rio de Janeiro

- Carioca river

- Rio de Janeiro as World Heritage site

- Site management plan

- Cosme Velho history

ANALYSIS PHASE

CHAPTER 02_ XL scale_Metropolitan analysis

- Administrative boundaries and Carioca’s identity

-Infrastructural discontinuity

-Landscape features -The rural landscape

CHAPTER 03_ L scale_ From bahia do Guanabara to Tijuca Forest

- The transept

- Indicator of fragmentation: the morphology

- Indicator of fragmentation: gray infrastructure

-The valley as a gradient

THE RURAL NEXUS

CHAPTER 04_ XL Strategy_ Metropolitan vision

CHAPTER 05_ L Strategy_ Carioca’s valley

CHAPTER 06_ M Strategy_ The Rural Nexus

-The belt

-Internal connections

-Laranjeira boulevard

-The informal armature

-The rural Nexus

PROJECT PROPOSAL

CHAPTER 07_Largo do Boticario_ Exploration of a rural station typology -Largo do Boticario as the center of the transportation system

-Rural Station

Site context_

01_ The identity of a city_

About Rio de Janeiro

The first inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro were the tupinambás, whose language was the tupi- guaraní. Their first settle ments were at the proximity of the Cario ca River, between the current neighbors of Gloria and Flamengo, they grouped in villages of 500 to 3000 people each. But it wasn’t until 1502, with the arri val to the bay of the second Portuguese exploratory that the region was called Rio de Janeiro, after the navigators as sumed they were at the mouth of a river. After 30 years of being used as a stop place for maritime expeditions, from 1530 to 1560 the area was disputed be tween the French and the Portuguese monarchy; resulting in a Portuguese vic tory. Under the Portuguese regime Rio de Janeiro became the capital of the co lony and started to grow in Morro de São Januário, later known as Morro do Castelo and in the area of Praça Quinze, which is currently the center of the city.

The declaration of independence took place in 1822, nevertheless the city con tinued growing through most of the 19th century; initially towards the north in São Cristóvão and Tijuca and in a second fa cet towards the south in Gloria, Flamengo and Botafogo neighborhoods. The tran sition between monarchy to republic las ted until 1899 with the declaration of the Republic of Brazil and with Rio de Janeiro as the capital of the country. This con dition as capital lasted until 1960 when it was moved to Brasilia. In spite of the change, Rio de Janeiro remains as the social and cultural center of the country. At the present time, Rio de Janeiro is the second most populous city in Bra zil and Brazil third most populous sta te after São Pablo and Minas Gerais.

ORTHOPHOTO OF RIO DE JANEIRO Cosme Velho location

Carioca river 1.2

The Carioca River is an approximately 4500 meters long river, formed by small affluent streams. In spite of its short ex tension, it has a great importance in the early days and until the end of the 20th century because it was the main sour ce of freshwater for the local inhabi tants and the sailors, as it is express by the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura e Lei Municipal de Incentivo à Cultura:

“It was the waters of the Carioca River that quenched the thirst of the Tupinam bá indigenous populations and also of the first Portuguese and French who arrived in the surroundings of the Guanabara Bay.”

Nowadays, the river has been modi fied from its original condition and por tions of it are tubed, canalized and some others underground. For the purpose of this thesis it is significant the part of the carioca river that is open to the sky.

Along the Carioca River different struc tures can be found. The first of them is the Banheira do Emperador, whose construction dates back to the S. XIIX; and it is believed to be an ancient in frastructure of the water supply system. Another element is the Reservatório da Mãe d’água (caixas do carioca). Built up in 1744 it was the first water catchment buil ding in the history of Rio de Janeiro and the first infrastructure of its kind in Brazil meant to canalize the water of the river from the Carioca mountain to the center of the city.

At the level of Laranjeira street, ano ther iconic element can be observed. It is an ancient fountain called Bica da Ra inha originally constructed on the s. XIX.

Among all the places that we can find alongside the Carioca River, the Reserva tório da Mãe d’água is the most relevant for the Rural Nexus project for being one of the places chosen for the intervention.

da Mãe d’água

Source: Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Reservatório

Carioca River point of interest

Legenda:

Tubed // Tijuca Forest Canalized // Largo do Boticario Underground // City fabric

Rio de Janeiro as World Heritage site 1.3

The city of Rio de Janeiro was listed in 2012 as a World Heritage Site by UNES CO, under the label of: “Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Moun tain and the Sea”.

The designation takes in consideration four areas of the city: the Tijuca National Park and the botanical gardens (1), Fla mengo Park(2), the entrance of the Guana bara Bay (3) and the Copacabana seafront (4). This status became official in 2016 af ter the authorities of the city elaborated the Site Management plan, as an official instrument to protect the mentioned areas.

“The site consists of an exceptional urban set ting encompassing the key natural elements that have shaped and inspired the development of the city: from the highest points of the Tijuca National Park’s mountains down to the sea. They also include the Botanical Gardens, established in 1808, Corcovado Mountain with its celebra ted statue of Christ, and the hills around Gua nabara Bay, including the extensive designed landscapes along Copacabana Bay which have contributed to the outdoor living culture of this spectacular city. Rio de Janeiro is also recogni zed for the artistic inspiration it has provided to musicians, landscapers and urbanists.”

Source: UNESCO, publication Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea

RIO DE JANEIRO METROPOLITAN AREA

World Heritage sites locations

Legenda:

World Heritage site limits

Cristo redentor view

Source: Archdaily

Site management plan 1.4

In 2014 a site Management Plan for the city of Rio de Janeiro was elaborated; named Carioca Landscapes, between the moun tain and the sea. The document is divided in six sections that covers from the goals, a description of the site, the pressures the city suffers, the current and the future management plan, and a monitoring plan.

One of the topics developed, useful for us to understand the context in which our thesis project is inserted, is about the Ti juca Forest. It is explained how since the late 19th century, the hills of Rio de Ja neiro have been occupied by low-inco me populations. Moverover, during the 20th century, as the discussion on housing became more present, disorderly occu pation preceded by the deforestation of the hills became widespread, which not only transformed the urban landscape, but also brought serious environmental consequences to the courses of water, contributing to the erosion of hillsides. In the next page plan, it is visible how the side effect suffered by the park is due not only to irregular occupation, but also from its excessive fragmentation caused by the park’s great dimensions, its insertion in an urban area, and the busy highways cutting through the different fragments of the park.

GREEN GRAY RELATION

Between the Tijuca National Park and the gray infrastructure at the regional scale

For the purposes of protection, a buffer zone was created, which corresponds es sentially to the densely occupied urban area connecting the sea and the mountain. In the cases of the Tijuca forest and the Botanical Gardens for example, the area specified in the management plan has the objective of “forming an ecological corri dor designed to protect the biodiversity of plants and the mobility of animals”1. It was strictly defined according to the criteria of non-existence of irregular occupations and the presence of significant vegetation.

The Buffer Zone is formed by Conser vation Units, most of them protected by environmental legislation. Regarding the project area of our thesis, Cosme Velho and Laranjeira are under the legislation of the APAC’s (Areas for the protection of cultural setting).

Rio de Janeiro by Le Courbusier

Source: Foundation Le COurbusier, 2018.

Having analyzed the Site Management plan, be believe that the Rural Nexus pro ject function according the following goals established by the Site Management plan:

- Awareness among the society of the importance of “conserving and preserving the culture and the memory derived from the carioca, the fluminense and the brazilian identity” 2

-“Improvement of instrument of management and planning for the elements in the site” 2

-"Site sustainable preservation" 3

-Social economical development.

-”...Promotion and publicity of natural and cultural assets”3

-Environmental recover intervention.

-”...More respectful use of parks… and the appreciation of the landscape as key factor for environmental education as well as leisure” 4

-Heritage conservation, without the traditional division between natural and cultural heritage.

Source: Site Management Plan Rio de Janeiro. Cario ca Landscape between the mountain and the sea: 1-pag.28, 2-pag.11, 3- pag.12, 4-pag.83.

Cosme Velho’s history

Cosme Velho is one of the oldest areas of the city that was occupied and explored by the Portuguese during the first decades after the foundation of the city. But this was not the beginning of the exploration of the area, since long before colonization, it was already known by the indigenous people for the quality and abundance of the wa ters of the Rio Carioca and its tributaries. In 1567, the lands bordering the ri ver were donated to members of the first family of Rio de Janeiro, Cristó vão Monteiro, who built the old mills, opened farmsteads and built houses. Following the tradition, the Rio Carioca became of fundamental importance for the drinking water supply of these nei ghborhoods and the entire city of Rio de Janeiro.The abstraction of its wa ters began in the 17th and later the ri ver was completely canalized, situation that can be seen in Largo do Boticário. In the first two centuries,the occupation took place in a sparse manner by large properties, following the economic cycles that cha racterized the colonial period. The area gave rise to two neighborhoods: The one of Cosme Velho, whose beginning was a farm, acquired in 1727 by the Portu guese merchant Cosme Velho Pereira, situated in the upper portion of the va lley, next to the slopes of Corcovado; and the one of Serra da Carioca. The place was known as Bairro das Águas Férreas, due to the ferruginous waters of the ri ver. After the death of its owner, the farm was sold to some noble men of the court.

The neighborhood of Laranjeiras was de veloped along the Carioca River, and was formerly known as “Bairro do Vale do Ca rioca”. The valley was characterized by the presence of a large number of orange trees, from which the neighborhood took its cu rrent name, even if some historians prefer to consider the name as a reference to the Laranjeiras neighborhood in Portugal.

At the end of the 18th century, the ser geant-at-arms Joaquim José da Silva Souto, known as Boticário because he owned an apothecary shop, acquired one of these lands in Cosme Velho and he built a group of single-story hou ses. The architectural complex became known as Largo do Boticário in his honor.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the district of Laranjeiras gained industrial features with the installation of the Com panhia de Fiação e Tecidos Aliança. The company had more than a thousand wor kers and operated until 1938, giving rise to houses and workers’ villages. This factory changed the socio-cultural composition of the neighborhood’s population and, con sequently, its architecture and urbanism. The firm offered cultural and leisure acti vities through the club, the cinema and the theater, as well as schools for the children of its employees. The aristocratic Laranjei ras neighborhood became a working class neighborhood with no conflicts between the various social classes that lived there.

By the year 1884, an important landmark for the history and the present of Cosme Velho was opened to the public: the sta tion of the Corcovado Railroad.

During the last century, various vicissi tudes have compromised the integrity of the identity of this neighborhood, fulcrum of the “Carioca” culture, putting in crisis a context that, although heterogeneous,

possessed a balance made of continuous exchanges between its different inhabi tants. The shift of administrative attention towards more productive and less rural poles have meant that the thriving envi ronment of the neighborhood of Cosme Velho has become prey to phenomena of segregation and abandonment, which have led to an inevitable deterioration of the social fabric.

Cosme Velho at the end of 19th century

Source: MONTEIRO, Salvador; KAZ, Leonel. Bandeira a Vida Inteira, Bradesco Seguros, 1998

Analysis phase_

02_ XL scale_

Metropolitan analysis

Administrative boundaries and Carioca’s identity

Cosme Velho is located between three districts: the central zone, characterized by the presence of big infrastructures; the north zone, relevant for its natural featu res; and a south zone where both of these features are confluent. All in all, the 3 of them have a unique mor phology and elements of the heritage that characterize them.

The first zone is the location of the city center. It is the district that condenses the historical image of Rio and where relevant landmarks for the carioca culture can be found such as the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Arches of Lapa. Moreover, in relation to the mobility in frastructure, in this district it is located the Metropolitan station and the airport San tos Dumont.

Likewise, it is in this area where a histo rical public infrastructure named Bonde Santa Teresa begins until it arrives at the core of the neighborhood of Cosme Velho

In the south region instead we find the most iconic attractions of the city, starting with the Cristo , the Pao do azucar and the botanical gardens among others. It is also the district where the city keeps the hi ghest relation with the waterfront, throu gh the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema

and Leblon. It is in this district where it can be found another public infrastruc ture important for the culture of Rio, the corcovado train, that links the neighbor of Cosme Velho with the Cristo.

On the other hand, in the north zone we find a predominant natural environment, with the tijuca forest as the main protago nist. Around the S. XVII the slope of the Macizo de Tijuca started to be torn down to be replaced by coffee plantations, es pecially in the proximity to Santa Teresa, Andaraí and Cosme Velho, affecting the natural environment and the watercour ses. In order to put a stop to the damage in 1861 the Tijuca Forest was born in the places where the previous coffee planta tions were located.

COLLAGE OF RIO DE JANEIRO

Infrastructural discontinuity

The following analysis, reflects the pre sence of multiple services dispersed along the urban area; in contraposition with the rural areas. It is visible how the urban en vironment is rich in terms of land uses but as long as we approach the rural areas the diversification diminishes.

The same situation happens for the pu blic transportation system that is located around the green areas, without reaching the buffer zone. It is a clear distinction of the lack of interaction between green and gray infrastructure.

RIO DE JANEIRO LANDUSE

Legenda

Economic and services areas

Education and health areas

Transportation areas

Uso do Solo 2019 (1) Uso do Solo Áreas de comércio e serviços Áreas de educação e saúde Áreas de transporte Áreas industriais Áreas institucionais e de infraes Áreas residenciais

Industrial areas Institutional areas

Residential areas

North, center and south regions

Landscape features 2.3

Goin further in the description of the landscape of Rio, it is relevant to mention how morphology plays an important role in the distinction between the natural and urban environment.

Through the analysis, we could identify how, approximately above 60 meters from the sea level (here represented by the orange line), the landscape changes from a predominant gray infrastructure to a green one.

This is important to indicate how, insi de the boundaries of the same city and between a few kilometers, the interac tion between the landscape changes from a mostly flat surface in the urban side to a steep and complex morpho logy on the natural one; these rela tions can be appreciated in the sections.

Moreover, when making a zoom in a por tion of territory between the tijuca forest and the urban environment we can see how the distinction between what is below and what is on top is precisely on the level 60.

One of the features that defines this thres hold in the landscape is the appearance of a new different type of dwelling, the in formal settlement. According to the ONU the growth of the informal settlements will double its population by the year 2030.

In this respect the rural – urban relation is important to prevent the uncontrolled growth of the city. In this scenario the transportation system and the heritage (represented by the Carioca river and lar go do boticario) plays the roles of the uni fying elements.

The concentration of informal settlements inside a specific portion of the landscape suggested to us the need to identify a bu ffer zone that doesn’t belong to the urban but at the same time is not part of the na tural. This “RURAL” landscape is defined by a specific density, morphology and circulation system that will be developed further.

The rural landscape

As previously indicated, the identified rural landscape constitutes a buffer zone through which to relate the urban fabric and the natural landscape of the Tijuca Forest, with the purpose of delimiting the former and protecting the latter. The alti tude of 60 m above sea level that we have identified is also taken up at the legislative level by the municipality, despite this the phenomena of informal settlements have multiplied over the years and it is assumed that they will continue to do so. Therefore, defining this new urban context offers the possibility to reinterpret the formal cha racters of this hybrid landscape, giving space to a planning more in line with the needs of a highly fragmented context in search of a unique identity character.

Speaking of identity, we realize that within this context, the elements of the cultural heritage of the city now devoid of a spe cific function and often abandoned, have remained almost in alternation, remaining sheltered from the exponential growth that the metropolis has had in areas clo ser to the commercial context of the city. Specifically, we are going to focus on the area that from Bahia do Guanabara reach the qartire of Cosme Velho until it comes into contact with the Tijuca Forest, going to fracture a portion of territories that would allow us to understand the patterns and dynamics that constitute the complex urban fabric of Rio de Janeiro.

In the next steps, we will analyze how geographical factors have contributed on the one hand to isolate and on the other to preserve these inner areas of the city, which due to their shape are disconnected from the denser urban fabric, giving rise to phenomena of segregation and social disparities.

To our eyes it is therefore evident the necessity to collect within the same path all the elements previously mentioned in order to consolidate the historical and cultural image of the city in its most rural contexts.

THE RURAL LANDSCAPE Transept definition

03_ XL scale_

From

bahia do Guanabara to Tijuca Forest

The transept

By changing the scale, it was possible to see in detail the nodes and points of in sertions of the transept. They represent interruptions, crossings or points of ex change between different urban elements or infrastructures.

The meeting of two gray infrastructures such as the Bondinho and the Túnel André Maracanã represents an exchange point; in this case, it allows people to flow from the city center to the core of Cosme Velho.

Instead, the interruption is reflected at the point where the Fernando Ferrari Hi ghway goes from being a geographical feature to a local one.

On the other hand, the intersections indi cate the coincidence of two different fea tures. For example, the intersection of the formal and informal settlement within the urban environment.

INDICATORS OF FRAGMENTATION Morphology

Indicator of fragmentation: gray infrastructure

Having defined the boundaries of our field of action, we have analyzed the main ele ment that causes changes in the patterns inside the transept.

One of the ways in which the fragmentation can become visible is analyzing the trans portation system. In this case, as shown in the drawing, we can see how the highway coming from the north side of the city is interrupting the mobility; leaving only one street as connection to the highest part of the valley, Laranjeira street.

INDICATORS OF FRAGMENTATION

Gray infrastucture

As already introduced, we can see how the morphology (specifically the presence of a level at 60 m) makes a distinction between what is the consolidated urban fabric and what is a natural area.

Urban area

Below the enlightened level +60, pre viously mentioned, we see the urban envi ronment, with a consolidated urban fabric and the presence of several services.

Rural area

Instead, above this level where we have the natural environment, the conditions begin to change and the availability of services is scarce, making this land a suitable place for the growth of informal settlements. In this analysis it is clear that morphology is a factor that causes fragmentation.

Indicator of fragmentation: the morphology

INDICATORS OF FRAGMENTATION Morphology

The valley as a gradient

The analysis of the transept was done by the division of it into five units of lands cape. Starting from the Bahía do Gua nabara to the Tijuca Forest with the aim of simulating the route that a per son walks to arrive at Cosme Velho.

If we understand the valley as a gra dient, two features can be analyzed: the condition and the density. In the first unit of landscape the condi tion is a consolidated Urban area, with a tight urban fabric, with high presence of connectivity, a low morphology and a few to none presence of the favelas.

Moving to the second unit of landscape the condition can be categorized as sub - urban, where the density starts being diffuse. In this case we can see a less com pact urban fabric, the reduction of con nectivity and the increment of the altitud.

Going deeper in the valley, in the third unit, even though the condition can still be un derstood as sub urban, the density is more dispersed, the urban fabric is more spread, and as we previously saw only Laranjei ra street remains as main connectivity.

Arriving to the unit 4, the core of the va lley, the condition can be understand as rural, with a rare density, a sprawl urban fabric and a higher level of in formal settlements in a territory the al titude oscillates from 60m to + 220m

As the last unit, we have the limits of the tijuca forest, where the condition is na tural and the density can be unders tood as tenuity. In this unit, with promi nent altitudes, the urban settlements and the connectivity are almost nonexistent.

Strategies_

04_ XL strategy_

Metropolitan vision

The metropolitan vision relies on a new public trans portation system that, at this scale, has the aim to reduce the disparity between the formal and the informal city. It provides accessibility and connectivity between the nor th, south and center area and it is capable of conducting the flow of people from the formal to the informal with the attempt of reducing the isolation.

DIAGRAM OF THE XL STRATEGY

05_ L strategy_

Carioca’s valley

At the local scale the strategy takes the shape of a tran sept. It is a rectangular portion of the territory of 4,5km of extension, that starts being crossed by a series of big infrastructures that allows the connection with the surrounding areas. This is achieved by the bondinho tramway that comes from the north, the corcovado train from the south and laranjeira street that arrives at Cosme Velho from the Baia.

DIAGRAM OF THE L STRATEGY

06_ M strategy_

The rural Nexus

The Rural Nexus project creates, in the rural area, a new public transportation system com posed of an infrastructural belt, an internal system of slow mobility and Laranjeira street as the spine of it.

The belt 6.1

The infrastructural belt hosts a tram and a vehicular system that works with the morphology by being placed above the level 60 and by acting directly where the conditions of fragmentation were tagged as the worst. The tram was chosen as the adequate medium due to the travel speed, which gives the opportunity to appreciate the landscape in a different way.

This intervention takes advantage of the existing infrastructure by reusing the cu rrently abandoned railways of the bondin ho and inserting the new line on the exis ting railway lines of the Corcovado train.

Starting from the urban condition this sys tem is intercepted by a series of stations strategically located, making it possible for them to induce a change in their su rroundings.

These stations have a different feature from those that can be found in an urban area, their role is to provide services, ac tivities that are more adequate to a rural area.

In the rural area, five of these stations are connected by a structure of slow mo bility that incorporates bicycles paths, new pedestrian paths and the modifica tion of the existing sidewalks in order to prioritize a sustainable and low impact mobility. They connect the main station of Largo do boticario, with the periphe ral stations, acting on the morphology and connecting the different altitudes. These interventions work according to the neighbor scale and provide a diffe rent way to experience the landscape.

Laranjeira boulevard

The intervention is completed by the consolidation of Laranjeira as a wooded boulevard that has the aim to connect the entire valley and canalize the flow of peo ple from the waterfront to the rural area. Laranjeira street is an element to be pre served for following on the surface the trace of the underground Carioca River.

The informal armature

To host the new infrastructural system and convert the valley into an integrated and sustainable urban environment, the Ru ral Nexus project provides a robust fra mework. The proposal is a reinterpretation of the theory of the Informal Armature by David Governeur. Over the years, Gouver nour has developed the concept of informal framework, which can give a fluid structure in which formal and informal can interact.

Finally as the Stewards of the armature we propose a selection of lands, to pre vent the expansion of the urban grow th in unwanted areas. This designation aims to protect the Tijuca forest from the spread of the urban environment.

The main protagonist of the design is a new public transportation system that hosts, as nodes, a series of tram stations.They act as transformers and have the aim to provide services that will never occur on their own.

As part of the protectors, Laranjeira street is suggested as a new corridor of mobility to conduct the flow of people from the wa terfront to the core of the valley, the rural area. Together with this, we treated as pro tectors the two remaining spots where the Carioca river is still open to the sky, with the purpose of preserving the carioca identity.

On the other hand, in the informal settle ments’ proximity, we propose receptor patches as a way for the local commu nity to self construct their own houses with the help of the municipality. The management of the receptor patches in volves a joint action between the go vernment and the local community with the goal to formalize the informality .

The rural nexus

As an outcome of the previous analysis, a masterplan for the region of Cosme Velho was developed. The project called Rural Nexus, is the role to CREATES, CON SOLIDATES and REUSE the existing in frastructure as a way to preserve the he ritage and reinforce the Carioca identity. In this context, Largo do Boticario is the main station of the system for ha ving an strategic position as the core of

Legenda:

Mix line: tram + vehicular

Exclusive tram line

Corcovado train

Bondihno tram line

Cycle paths

New infrastructural system

Slow mobility

Tram stations

Pedestrian paths

Project proposal_

07_ Largo do Boticario_

Exploration of a rural station typology

7.1

Largo do Boticario as the center of the transportation system

Largo do Boticario is the place where all the transportation systems converge, that is to say the slow mobility, the local trans portation system and the regional connec tions .

About the local transportation, a funicular station was created in order to make a link between the lowest and highest level of the carica valley and connect in this way to the new tram line . In addition the new rural station of Largo do boticario recei ved the car circulation coming from the Baía do Guanabara.

Referring to the regional connections, the project for Largo do Boticario reuses the existing bus station with a design that makes it more accessible and integrated

scale - Largo do Boticario, center of the transportation system

Section A_ scale 1: 5 000

Instead, the slow mobility is represented by the arrival of the cycle paths that con nect the trams stations placed on top of the valley with Largo do Boticario, that is to say the natural environment with the ru ral one. At the encounter with Largo, the visitors can meet a facility to repair, park and rent bikes. The idea is reinforced by the modification of the existing sidewalks in order to give priority to pedestrian cir culation.

Santa Teresa Tram Bycicle lane

Station G

Corcovado Train Station E Station F

Santa Teresa Tram

Station H

scale

A_Mobility

Legenda

Vehicular circulation

Entrances

Internal mobility

Bycicle path

A_Program

Station H

4

1 2 3 Velostation 4 4

Reuse of the existing bus station Reconvertion of Largo do Boticario Creation of a new funicular station

SECTION B - B

Lower and upper station relation

Largo do Boricario

Largo do Boticario rural station Station H

Rural station 7.2

Largo do Boticario is the result of the search for a multimodal station adequa te to perform in a rural area. To give an answer to this question, it was determined that it has to be different from a regular station located in a dense urban fabric and that it should cover a program that is ade quate to give answers to the local needs. With this in mind the Rural station of Lar go do Boticario offers a funicular station, gastronomic areas, accomodations, ad ministrative areas and places to practice physical activities such as dancing and karate.

At the urban level, the project proposes a ground floor that recedes from the buil ding line in order to create a piazza and enhance the value of the station’s entran ces. This new public space has also the role of liberating the area surrounding the Carioca river for its better appreciation and for the people to acknowledge it as part of the history of the city.

The project proposes the conservation of the original facade, and in front of it the creation of a more intimate piazza, with places to sit under the shadow of the trees; a situation needed due to the high tempe

Program: Funicular station

a_ b_

Gastronomic services a_Bar b_Restaurant Accomodation Administrative Sport activities

FRONT

VIEW

Largo do Boticario rural station

The new funicular station has an in dependent entrance, indicated also by the presence of a cycle path. The se cycle paths give the visitor the pos sibility to experience the entire pu blic space from one side to the other.

The design idea proposed for the funicu lar station is to provide a minimal inter vention. Thanks to the climate conditions in Rio it was possible to give an answer implementing a platform and a metal co ver. This new rooftop stands out with an organic shape that follows the design of the park and works in contraposition with the shape of Largo do Boticario.

The first floor of Largo do Boticario pro poses spaces adaptable for educational activities, following the needs of a Mul timodal station located in a rural area.

SECTION A - A Internal view VIEW 2

Internal public space

VIEW 1

Largo do Boricario entrance

References

Bibliography:

Gouverneur, 2015. Planning and designing for future informal settlement, Shaping the self constructed city. Routledge, London.

Mike Davis, 2006. Planet of Slums. Verso Books. London.

Publications:

Contin; Galiulo, 2020. TELL ME metropolitan cartography - Dispositivos metodológicos para elegir espacios de calidad en los nuevos morfotipos metropolitanos. IV Congreso ISUF - H, Barcelona.

IPHAN, 2014 .Site management plan - Rio de Janeiro: Carioca landscape between the mountains and the sea. Rio de Janeiro.

Latin American Perspectives

2002 Vol. 29, No. 1, Brazil: The Hegemonic Process in Political and Cultural Formation, pp. 83-105 (23 pages). Sage Publications, Inc.

Martins de Sá, 2019. Largo do boticário: memória e sedução de uma ruína. Master thesis in Social Memory, Universidade Federal do estado do Rio do Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.

POLIMI, FPM, ETSAS, 2020. TELL ME - Training for education, learning and leadership towards a new MEtropolitan discipline - 03 Metropolitan approach to complexity.

Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Secretaria Municipal de Cultura e Lei Municipal de Incentivo à Cultura, n.d. Trilha do Rio Carioca, cartilha para uso pedagógico, fundamental 1.

Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, IRPH Instituto Rio Patrimonio da Humanidade. Gui da das APAC's, Laranjeira - Cosme Velho. Year II, n1, 2012.

Sites:

Eric Baldwin. Archdaily, Rio de Janeiro named the First World Capital of Architecture, 23/01/2019. (https://www.archdaily.com/909970/rio-de-janei ro-named-the-first-world-capital-of-architecture), [06/04/2022].

Desing Indaba, 2018, Copacabana's stylish street (https://www.designindaba.com /articles/creative-work/copacabanas-stylish-streets) [05/04/2022].

Gouverneur, From the rooftops: David Gouverneur, (https://vimeo.com/444253720) [20/04/2022].

Instituto Pereira Passos, Data. Rio, 2017, (https://www.data.rio), [05/04/2022].

Janice E. Perlman, Marginality: from myth to reality in the favelas of Rio do Janeiro, 19692022. N.d. (http://dreamscanbe.org/Reasearch%20Page%20Docs/perlmanmythtomargi nality.pdf), [05/04/2022].

The Atlas of informality. N.d. (www.atlasofinformality.com), [05/04/2022].

UNESCO, World Heritage List. N.d. (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1100) [06/04/2022].

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Prof. Antonella Contin and our tutors Federico Mistò and Valentina Galiulo for their time and guidance through each stage of the process.

We give thanks to all the professors that gave us a academic training during this past two years. As well as our colleges that represented for us the opportunity to learn and work in a multicultural environment.

We would like to warmly thanks to our families and friends to whom without their support and effort this journey wouldn't have been possible.-