VILA DE IRUPÉ

The aim of this thesis is to propose a new architectural language as an improvement to the riparian population’s living conditions. Nowadays they live in collections of small houses – occupied by several generations – that are constantly susceptible to flooding and have very few or no adequate treatment of sewage, electricity or running water. The new project is a sustainable and self-sufficient floating housing community in a collection of artificial islands that respects the existing culture and uses it to inform the design moves, while they empower the community to build their aggregation.

A better life quality means a better sense of community, while being sustainable assures that the rainforest will remain as a natural resource. Added to that, a unique approach that follows the vernacular of the native Brazilian riparian architecture combined with the historic styles that followed the “discovery” of Brazil (focusing on colonialism and modernism) will create a new case study for the architecture of that region. An attempt to prevent that a new project changes the identity of the population into a simple and cultureless idea.