Behind the wonders and luxuries of the city Rio, there are a cluster of towns living in the shadows, forgotten by the governments. These towns are named Favela, which also means the people of the mountain. They are towns that emerged when foreign workers or free slaves settled in Rio. As the government could not afford to look out for these people, the group had to be self-sustain and they built, design, create their own towns—places that thrived unrestrained and became homes for their descendants.
The virtual trip to Favela is an eye-opening experience for me as it helped me understand the importance of built environment knowledge and application in city life.
1.) Bringing order to cities through urban planning.
From what we saw in the Favelas, they are blocks of houses all cramped layer over layer on the hills like dominos that could tumble anytime. Without proper urban planning of town, residents could not strategize their townships plan and all they did was to build settlements in any empty spaces they found. This only lead to the creation of haywire a towns without no order, or a proper plan on how to navigate the towns conveniently.
2.) For The Safety Of The People
We all agree that an ideal successful town will be one where residents could live their lives fully without having to worry about safety. Yet, in the Favelas where authorized standardizations are absent, we have towns where people—who are NOT professional builders—building their own homes. Although residents managed to thrive liberally with creative designs, but it is still questionable that how safe and stable buildings could be if they are built by untrained people, who may not follow standardized guidelines that are meant for the safety of people. Secondly, without any governmental institutions like police stations, there are no firm security force enforcing law and order in the towns. Meaning this leave rooms for extreme groups to raise and cause troubles. For an example, the Red Command is the most notorious and powerful gang in Rio. They support drug trafficking and trade dangerous weapons. This group maintains powerful grips in some Favelas and is difficult to stop without proper interventions from authorities. In addition to that, we could see exposed wirings sprawled all over the town. Well, since the government refused to provide basic electrical facilities, the people had to get their own. As a consequence, the regulations are poor, and it poses as a threat to the residents since the wiring are tangled and close to the grounds.
3.) Ensuring the welfare of people
It was shocking to learn that most Favelas deprive hospitals. Some children hospitals are difficult to access especially for those who live far from it. Through this, we realised that essential services buildings like hospitals ought to be placed near neighbourhoods so they are easily accessible and no time will be wasted during emergencies. Plus, I learned that proper sewage systems must be implemented in town planning, as in some of the Favelas, sewage water are just dumped directly into the sea, resulting in spread of skin diseases among residents. It is also essential to not design any neighborhood near a sewage drain where contaminated water are in abundance. Finally, we should keep in mind to implement wide and spatial spaces in between the town itself because living in crammed areas could affect people mentally as they feel contained and suffocated.
In conclusion, the Favelas are existing evidence that highlight the importance of the built environmental knowledge, which is to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of people. I believe as future designers, we should always remember to come up with designs that are for the people, and only for the people.
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