Urban informality shaped by labor: Addressing the spatial logics of favelas

This doctoral thesis mainly consists of a series of journal publications written by the author between 2015 and 2019. The doctoral thesis presents the results of ten years of research on informal settlements, with particular reference to Brazilian favelas. The research aimed to understand the social dynamics of the production of space in these...

A informalidade da favela brasileira: um desenho urbano voltado à moradia social

Este artigo propõe discutir a habitação social de massa no Brasil. Investiga-se um desenho da moradia social que parte do que existe nas favelas, ou seja, das práticas sociais de dentro das favelas, notoriamente as relações de trabalho em um sistema de circulação econômica contemporâneo. O artigo ensaia uma linguagem arquitetônica que parte das...

Favelas and the normative, institutional Social Housing System in Brazil: discipline versus freedom, private versus public through the analysis of the unprivileged working class history

Most of today’s Brazilian Social Housing Institutional complexes are standardized mass buildings. They are planned in the periphery of cities, have no connection to public transportation systems and are disconnected from their respective local context. The planning approach to housing is compliant with ‘state simpli cation models’ which turn a...

Critical roles of Architecture: The endemic of labour in the favela dwelling system: Towards a critique on its architectural autonomy.

This article explores a concept of autonomous architecture that is endemic to post-neoliberal labour systems. Current housing production is directly influenced by the commodification process of living and by social practice tunes, which influence the space production. This directly implies city porosity, creative classes, knowledge economy,...

Favela as a Brazilian Heritage Site: The complexities and shifting realities from an ethnographic perspective

Favelas are a world heritage site since 2012. This particular fact triggers a binary opposition in informal settlements study: from the materialist perspective to the idealist one. That includes neoliberal effects, such as commodification, and a romantic depiction of the favela. An ethnographic study scrutinizes Brazilian society and embeds...

Planning as curating everyday micro-contexts for a better public policy in the Favelas: The case of the Favela School of Architecture

How Does Work Shape Informal Cities? The Critical Design of Cities and Housing in Brazilian Slums

This essay is conceived as a reaction to the past conference Shaping Cities of the Urban Age at the 2016 Venice Biennale, Reporting from the Front. In light of numerous global crises, urban explosion, housing shortages and rising social movements, contemporary architecture is increasingly being pushed to investigate the social dimension, impact...