This was a pilot project of Green Park, an existing area of 600 square meters, surrounding the shopping centre ‘Shopping Grande Rio’ and needing a residential, commercial and institutional program. We designed 102 semi-detached family houses with a parking lot, small front yards and a common recreational area. The commercial and institutional buildings, including a congress centre are located next to the neighbourhood.
A new urban district has to be developed, almost 5 km away from the existing city. The client Epicurius, showed us that he had already a master plan of 263 hectares in total for the allotment, existing of 17 to develop neighbourhoods, connected through the ring road. We designed plot E, almost 40 hectares. The challenge was to design a safe and comfortable neighbourhood with all the necessary facilities nearby: public space, commercial and recreational facilities and infrastructure for slow and fast traffic.
All the communities are designed within a maximum of 400 meters from the neighbour- hood’s centre, which is only 5 minutes walking distance. Every household has a private space, parking lot and a semi-public space that connects the houses within the community. At the corners of the quarter one residential building is replaced by a commercial building, to create mixed use. The middle strip of the main road has a recreational and commercial zone, to stimulate livability as well as safety.
This area has an important historic meaning in the urban growth of Rio de Janeiro; it always adapted to the needs of the passage between the centre and the Atlantic Coast. The challenge was to combine new elements with historic parts in the transformation of the public space.
We improved the urban environment and identified single places that have the potential to become small landmarks. Urban furniture, public lightening, crossovers and pavements are renewed as well as qualities of existing architecture. The decorative Portuguese tile, integrated in the concrete, refers to the historic centre.
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