iskanje potencialov milton braga finding potential Fotografije: arhiv arhitekta / Photos: architect’s archive Foto: Andraž Kavčič Pogled na Sao Paulo iz zraka. Aerial view of Sao Paulo Milton Braga je eden od partnerjev MMBB Arquitetos, biroja, ki je bil ustanovljen leta 1991 v Sao Paulu. Gre za vsestranski biro, ki brez težav projektira v različnih merilih in kontekstih. MMBB se zavedajo pomembnosti brazilske arhitekturne zapuščine, zato od leta 1995 redno sodelujejo tudi z arhitektom Paulom Mendesom da Rocha. Milton Braga je za svoje delo prejel številne brazilske in mednarodne nagrade, kar štirikrat je bil nagrajen na Arhitekturnem Bienalu v Sao Paulu. Ena izmed zadnjih zmag je prva nagrada na natečaju za nov bivalni, izobraževalni in vadbeni kampus mednarodnega festivala Campos do Jordao. Milton Braga od leta 2002 uči na Fakulteti za urbanizem in arhitekturo na Univerzi v Sao Paulu, kjer se je izobraževal in doktoriral tudi sam. Predaval je na številnih prestižnih inštitucijah po svetu, med drugim na NAi v Rotterdamu, v Mehiki, Peruju, Nemčiji in v Piranu. Sao Paulo je ogromno mesto, metropola z 20 milijoni prebivalcev. Tekom dvajsetega stoletja je doživelo rast, ki bi bila na primer enakovredna gradnji 36 Brasilij. Brasilia, Brazilska nova prestolnica, je bila v začetku zamišljena kot mesto s 500.000 prebivalci. Za Sao Paulo takšna rast pomeni po tri Brasilije na desetletje, kar je hitrost, ki jo je nemogoče nadzorovati, kaj šele planirati. Sao Paulo se sooča s premnogimi problemi, v zvezi s katerimi je treba razrešiti mnoga vprašanja. V mestu je potrebno urediti praktično vse. Sao Paulo je urbana točka, ki od zahoda proti vzhodu meri 80 km, od severa proti jugu pa 45 km. Urbano tkivo je neprekinjeno in precej raznoliko: središče mesta je bolj tradicionalno z več navpičnicami in referenčnimi točkami, ki pa so v primerjavi z velikostjo mesta izgubile svoj pomen. Večina urbanega tkiva je morje med seboj Milton Braga is a partner in MMBB Arquitetos, founded in 1991 in Sao Paulo. A diverse office, they have produced successful designs regardless of scale or context. In MMBB, they are aware of the significance of the Brazilian architectural heritage and have regularly collaborated with architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha since 1995. Milton Braga received numerous Brazilian and international awards in recognition of his work, including as many as four Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial Awards. He recently won the first prize in the new residential, educational, and rehearsal campus competition for the Campos do Jordao International Festival. Since 2002, Milton Braga has taught at the Sao Paulo Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, where he himself had studied and obtained his PhD from. He lectured in numerous prestigious institutions across the world, including at the NAi in Rotterdam, and in Mexico, Peru, Germany, and Piran. Sao Paulo is a giant city – a metropolis with 20 million inhabitants. In the twentieth century, the city has experienced a phenomenal growth, equivalent to building 36 Brasilias. Brasilia, the Brazil’s new capital, was originally meant for 500,000 people; on average, this growth therefore equals three Brasilias per decade, which is a rate of growth impossible to control, let alone plan. Sao Paulo thus faces many problems, and many issues need to be resolved in the city. Everything is still to be done in the city. Sao Paulo is an urban spot measuring 80 km on the east-west axis, and 45 km from north to south. Its continuous urban fabric is quite diverse: the centre is traditional and verticalised with some reference points that have become almost insignificant compared to the scale of the city. The majority of the urban fabric is a sea of almost non-differentiated small houses; the city extends continuously. Very podobnih si malih hišk, mesto se razteza v neskončnost. Razen nogometnih igrišč le redki elementi izstopajo. Sao Paulo je kraj srečevanja in prepletanja različnih slojev in kultur, kjer se najrevnejši srečujejo z najbogatejšimi, mesto pa je pravi simbol sodobnega sveta. Nasproti favel stojijo velike in moderne stanovanjske zgradbe za bogataše. Najznačilnejša podoba Sao Paula ostaja neformalno mesto – favela. Sao Paulo je drugačen od Ria de Janeira. V Riu je močna narava ustvarila izrazito oblikovano pokrajino. V Sao Paulu je narava, ki je veliko bolj nežna, že skorajda izginila pod nebrzdano urbanizacijo. Izrazite referenčne točke v Riu izstopajo, poudarjajo svojo prisotnost in so zelo pomembne, povrh vsega pa so večinoma naravne – skale, plaže in gore uravnavajo tok mesta. V Sao Paulu so naravne, pa tudi zgrajene, reference prešibke, da bi izstopale iz homogenega urbanega tkiva. Celo najbolj slavne zgradbe, kot so stolpnica Banespa (Banespa Tower) Plínia Botelho do Amarala, Niemeyerjeva Zgradba Copan (Edifício Copan) ali Zgradba Italia (Edifício Itália) Franza Heesa so v teksturi mesta skoraj nevidne. Ko je Le Corbusier obiskal Južno Ameriko, je takoj razumel razlike med največjima brazilskima mestoma. V Riu je njegove predloge vodila narava, v Sao Paulu pa je s svojimi predlogi skušal voditi naravo, predlagal je namreč popolno preoblikovanje narave. Sao Paulo je ogromna, neskončna urbana pokrajina, v kateri so le redki elementi dovolj močni, da postanejo referenčne točke in oblikujejo prostor. Podobno vlogo, kot jo ima narava v Riu, bi lahko igrali le največji infrastrukturni sistemi, torej reke in železnica. Mestna železnica preči urbano pokrajino in določa njen premer, hkrati pa podaja tudi njeno mero in to ne le v časovnih enotah, temveč tudi v podobah, ki jih ustvarja. Leta 2001 so nas povabili, da pripravimo projekt za razstavo ob 50. obletnici Sao Paulskega bienala. Namesto, da bi v glavni razstaviščni dvorani razstavili neki objekt, smo se odločili, da v svoj projekt vključimo mesto. Ker smo se zavedali pomembne vloge, ki jo v Sao Paulu igra mestna železnica, smo predlagali urbano instalacijo, ki vključuje železniške tire. Servisni vagon železniškega sistema smo opremili z močnimi lučmi in ga pustili, da dva meseca kroži po mestu. Prebivalcem mesta smo skušali omogočiti, da si ustvarijo bolj enotno podobo svojega mesta. Mali vagon je redno vozil mimo različnih točk v mestu, jih osvetljeval kot optični čitalec skener in tako označeval velikost mesta. Želeli smo izpostaviti različne alternative oziroma različne možne strategije, ki bi lahko pomagale Sao Paulu, da postane enovita urbana pokrajina, ki jo njeni prebivalci lahko razumejo in jo imajo za jasno dejstvo. To bi bilo za mesto res velik dosežek! V mestu seveda obstajajo tudi drugi infrastrukturni sistemi, vendar pa few elements stand out, apart from football pitches. Sao Paulo is a place of meeting and mixing – there are the very rich and the utterly poor, it’s an epitome of the contemporary world. There are large and expensive modern residential blocks pressed against the informal sectors – the favelas. But the most common image of Sao Paulo is the predominance of the informal city. Sao Paulo is different from Rio de Janeiro. Rio has exuberant, untamed nature which has created a powerful landscape. The nature in the Sao Paulo area, on the other hand, was much more delicate and has long vanished due to the heavy urbanisation. The references in Rio are outstanding, present and important, and they are mainly natural – the rocks, the mountains, and the beaches modulate the flow of the city. In Sao Paulo, the natural and even the man-made references are now too weak to stand out from the city fabric. Even the most famous buildings such as the Banespa Tower by Plínio Botelho do Amaral, Edifício Copan by Niemeyer, or the Edifício Itália by Franz Hees are now almost lost under the city texture. When Le Corbusier visited South America, he immediately understood the differences between Brazil’s two main cities. In Rio de Janeiro, his proposals were driven by the nature there. In Sao Paulo, however, his proposals were driving the nature; he proposed a thorough transformation of the nature. Sao Paulo as an immense urban spot without measure has but few elements that have the power to create references or to modulate the space. It is only the biggest infrastructural systems, such as the rivers or the railway system, that can play the same role as the nature does in Rio. The metropolitan train lines cross the urban spot and mark its diameter and precise measures, not only in terms of units of time, but also in terms of images that they produce. In 2001, we were invited to contribute a project for an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the biennial of Sao Paulo. Instead of exhibiting an artefact in the main exhibition hall, we proposed to make a project involving the city. Keeping in mind the importance of the metropolitan railway of Sao Paulo, we proposed an urban installation that included rail tracks. We took a service car from the railway system, equipped it with powerful lights, and made it run along the diameters of the city for two months. This enabled the inhabitants to construct a unified image of the whole city. This small rail car passed certain spots regularly like a scanner, marking the scale of the city. This was our way of pointing out possible alternatives or possible strategies that could make Sao Paulo into a landscape its inhabitants can understand and turn into a consistent fact. That would really be an important achievement for the city. Obviously, there are several more infrastructural systems in the city, but many of them do not fulfil their unifying role successfully because of their poor design. Sao Paulo – urbana točka. Urban spot of Sao Paulo. Nogometno igrišče v morju majhnih hišic. A soccer field in the sea of small houses. Slavni prizor Sao Paula: luksuzni stanovanjski bloki nasproti neformalnega predela mesta ene od favel. V faveli Paraisópolis, v kateri trenutno delamo projekt, živi 80.000 ljudi na površini približno 80 nogometnih igrišč. The famous situation : the very expensive residential blocks face the informal area – one of the favelas, where we are making our project right now – the favela Paraisópolis, which houses 80,000 people in a space in size of 80 soccer fields. predavanje Pogled na središče Sao Paula z 29. nadstropja stolpnice Banespa Tower. An image of the city centre taken from the 29th floor of the Banespa Tower. Le Corbusierjev predlog za Sao Paulo. Le Corbusier’s proposal for Sao Paulo. Mestni sistem železnic. The metropolitan railway system. Urbana instalacija Outrem. Skener označuje velikost mesta. Angelo Bucci, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 2001 Outrem Urban installation. The Scanner, marking the scale of the city. Angelo Bucci, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 2001. mnogi od njih ne opravljajo svoje naloge združevanja, saj so zelo slabo oblikovani. Naravna konfiguracija mesta je včasih vključevala bogat rečni sistem, vendar pa je zdaj večina vodotokov reguliranih in usmerjenih v kanale. Usmerjanje vode v kanale po vsem mestu povzroča pogoste poplave. Regulacija površinskih voda je seveda velik problem, hkrati pa odpira strateško priložnost za prihodnost, saj je priložnost za oblikovanje in preoblikovanje mesta v celoti. S tem v mislih smo iskali možnosti, kako bi lahko problem pogostih poplav izrabili kot zanimivo priložnost. Poplave zadevajo mesto v celoti: večinoma prizadenejo strateške produktivne predele, kot so na primer najpomembnejše prometnice, ki so večinoma speljane po dolinah, vzroki poplav pa ležijo v obrobnih predelih mesta. V neformalne dele mesta, torej v revnejša področja na obrobju, daleč od mestnega središča, se le redko vlaga, saj so očitno šibkejši del družbe. Za rešitev problema pogostih poplav v centru so potrebna vlaganja pri izvirih vodotokov na obrobju, ki se pogosto nahajajo znotraj neformalnih predelov. To je priložnost, da razvoj mesta postane bolj uravnotežen. Od naložbe bi imeli koristi prav vsi: seveda bi najbolj koristila tistim na čelu produkcije in na čelu političnih odločitev, vendar pa bi se vlagalo na področjih, ki so šibkejša in revnejša. Ena od možnih rešitev poplavljanja je gradnja rezervoarjev, ki zadržijo odvečno vodo, na izvirih vodotokov. Ta rešitev je nekoliko dvorezna, saj so prebivalci, ki se jih postavitev rezervoarjev najbolj dotika, revnejši in nimajo dovolj moči, da bi odločali o tem, kam se jih postavi. Rezervoar predstavlja minimalni vložek brez kakršne koli skrbi za urbanizem. Torej so le delna rešitev, ki je namenjena izključno preprečevanju poplav v središču mesta, poleg tega pa je njihova lokacija pogosto sporna. Rezervoarji so ogromni in velikokrat zgrajeni na občutljivih lokacijah, tik ob hišah na primer. V urbanističnem pogledu so mnogo bolj sprejemljivi, če so usklajeni z ostalimi urbanimi elementi, na primer postavljeni v sredino široke avenije. Pogosto se pojavijo tudi na pomembnih točkah, na primer na sredini velikega križišča. Rezervoarji bi morali postati zanimivi urbani prostori, kar bi bilo možno celo brez posebne zaslombe v urbanizmu. Vlaganje v rezervoarje je neizogibno, tako da je pomembno upoštevati tudi možnosti, ki jih odpirajo, in jim omogočijo, da postanejo več kot le delna rešitev: torej da postanejo del širšega oblikovanja mesta. Rezervoarji bi morali uravnavati urbano tkivo in postati referenčna točka za ustvarjanje prostorske identitete mesta. Njihova mreža bi lahko med seboj povezovala pomembna programska in infrastrukturna vozlišča. To je ena od tematik, s katero se ukvarja naš biro. Na področju Sao Paula je bogata naravna konfiguracija, ki so jo oblikovale reke, skrita pod urbanizacijo, zato bi morale nove soseske graditi svojo In terms of the natural configuration, there used to be rich rivers in Sao Paulo but they have all been canalised. The canalisation of the rivers causes frequent flooding all over the city making the regulation of the water a problem. At the same time, however, this is also a strategic point for the future of the city as it represents a possibility for a full-scale change in Sao Paulo. So with this in mind, we put some thought into how we could transform the problem of frequent flooding into an interesting opportunity. By occurring mainly at the strategic points of the production, such as the mayor highways, which are located in the valleys, the flooding affects the whole city. What actually causes it, however, is the insufficient regulation of the water in the peripheral parts of the city. The informal sectors, i.e. the poorer areas located in the outskirts far form the city centre, are obviously the weaker part of the society and as a consequence, they rarely get invested into. But in order to solve the problem of flooding in the central area, the investments have to be made on the outskirts as the heads of the watersheds are often located in the informal sectors. So this could be an opportunity to make the city more balanced. The investment would be in everybody’s interest, with those in charge of the production and political decisions still benefiting the most, yet the actual investment would be made in the areas that are poorer. One of the possible solutions is building reservoirs to retain the water in order to prevent the flooding on the heads of the watersheds. This solution is quite paradoxical as the people most affected by it, the poor, do not have the sufficient power to interfere with the political decisions that lead to the placement of the reservoirs. They are built with minimum investment and no commitment to urbanisation at all. They are a partial solution merely preventing the flooding in the central areas. They are often problematic because of their placement -a reservoir is a huge element, frequently placed right next to delicate structures such as people’s houses. In terms of urban planning, they work much better when they are mediated with other urban elements, e.g. placed in the middle of an avenue. In many cases, they are in very important places, for instance at important crossroads. These facts can serve as a hint as to how to make the reservoirs’ presence better for the city, namely for them to become interesting urban spaces, even without any kind of commitment to the urban design. The investments in building reservoirs are necessary, so it is important to also point out the opportunities that they bring. By taking into account these opportunities, the reservoirs become not only a partial, sectorial solution, but part of a larger scale urban design: they can become capable of modulating the urban fabric, creating references and creating identities in the city. There could even SLO ENG identiteto na elementih, ki so nujni za normalno delovanje mesta. Sodelovali smo na natečaju za ureditev nove soseske, ki naj bi nadomestila staro industrijsko področje, neprimerno za načrtovano uporabo – stanovanjsko in poslovno sosesko. Nismo pozabili na probleme s poplavami, ki pestijo mesto, in poskuse rešitve z gradnjo rezervoarjev, zato je naš projekt za novo sosesko vključil tudi gradnjo rezervoarja za odvečno vodo. Identiteta celotne soseske temelji na tem rezervoarju. Značaj nove soseske sledi tipu urbanizacije, ki je značilen za Sao Paulo, saj smo ugotovili, da je v tako velikem mestu nujno zagotavljati neke vrste kontinuiteto, dodali pa smo neobičajni element – bazen, v katerem se zbira odvečna deževnica. Namesto zavarovane soseske, ki bi bila ločena od svojega okolja, smo predlagali, da je v novi soseski najpomembnejši element vodni bazen. Obdržali smo tip urbanizacije, pri katerem so nove zgradbe vstavljene v tradicionalno urbano tkivo, ki je zelo gosto, saj smo mnenja, da dokaj dobro deluje. Identiteto nove soseske smo namesto s tipom urbanizacije ustvarili z neobičajnim elementom, namenjenim reševanju širšega problema odvečne vode. Vodni bazen ni koristen le za novo sosesko, temveč tudi za vse sosednje četrti. Ker so reke v Sao Paulu zelo onesnažene, smo se odločili, da našega bazena ne bomo povezali s hidrografskim sistemom mesta, ampak ga bomo obdržali kot del sistema podtalnice, ki je odkrit, in kamor se lahko steka odvečna deževnica. Natečajni projekt ni bil nikoli izveden. Trg oziroma jasno določen javni prostor je izredno pomemben za katerokoli sodobno mesto, vključno s Sao Paulom. Delovati bi morali kot srednjeveški evropski trgi. V Sao Paulu pa javni prostori obstanejo le, če je njihov prostor jasno določen in če imajo očitno korist za javnost – na primer nogometna igrišča, saj je nogomet v Braziliji javna vrednota za vsakogar. Verjetno poznate Roweovo analizo središča Parme, v kateri je izrisal prazne prostore: praznine med zgradbami, ulice in trge; kar je ravno obratno od rezultatov modernističnega urbanizma, ki se primarno ukvarja z zgradbami, ne pa prostori med njimi. V Sao Paulu je prostorska organizacija hibrid med tradicionalno mestno organizacijo prostora, ki je na nekaterih mestih predrta s sodobnimi zgradbami. V takšnih razmerah je razločevanje med javnim in zasebnim prostorom precej zapleteno. Niti infrastruktura, ki je običajno kar dober pokazatelj, ne razjasni razmer, saj je tako slabo zastavljena. Infrastruktura bi morala biti v pomoč pri določanju javnega prostora – kot v Pekingu, kjer so nekdanji obrambni jarki prepovedanega mesta postali prijeten park, ali pa na primer pariški kanali. S pomočjo dobro zastavljenega urbanega aparata bi lahko zgradili tisto, česar si vsak prebivalec Sao Paula najbolj želi – mestne plaže, kakršne ima Rio de Janeiro. Takšnih seveda ne bomo imeli nikoli, be several important programmes associated to the infrastructural nodes. This is what our office is most eagerly researching and would want to establish in Sao Paulo. Because the rich natural landscape where the rivers used to flow is lost to the urbanisation, the neighbourhoods could have their identities marked by the elements necessary for urban functioning. We have participated in a competition for a new neighbourhood to replace an old industrial neighbourhood whose urban fabric has become inadequate for its planned – residential and office -use. Taking into account the city’s problem of flooding and trying to solve it by building reservoirs, our proposal for the new neighbourhood includes building a reservoir for excessive water and building the neighbourhood’s identity around it. The character of the new neighbourhood closely follows the type of urbanisation Sao Paulo already has, since we figured it was extremely important to keep some sort of continuity in such a large city, but adds to it an extraordinary element, namely the pool that collects the excess rain water. Our idea was to maintain the same type of urban fabric, a morphology that is very dense and sometimes really nice, where the modern buildings are inserted into traditional urban fabric. In order to build up the identity of the new neighbourhood -which is clearly a necessity regarding the scale of the city -we used the extraordinary element of urban drainage. Instead of making a gated community that would be separated from its environment, we proposed to focus our new neighbourhood around the pool of water. The pool would be beneficial not only for the new neighbourhood, but also for all the neighbourhoods around it. Sao Paulo’s rivers are unfortunately extremely polluted, so we decided not to link our pool to the whole hydrographical system, but to keep it as an exposure of underground water where the rainwater can be drained to. The competition was never realised. A square or some other clear hallmark of public space is in our opinion very important for any contemporary city, including Sao Paulo. It works like the squares in European mediaeval cities. In Sao Paulo, public spaces can persevere only if they have a clearly defined space and obvious public value -for instance football pitches, since football is universally regarded as a value in Brazil. You’re probably familiar with the famous analysis of the Parma city centre by Colin Rowe where he shows the empty spaces, the voids between the houses and the streets, as opposed to the result of the modern urbanism where the focus would be on the buildings instead of the empty spaces. In Sao Paulo the urban organisation is hybrid: there is the traditional urban organisation pierced with some modern buildings. In this situation, the division between the private and public spaces is quite confusing. Even the infrastructure is usually not helpful because of its poor design. But it obviously should help – take the Slabo oblikovanje avtocestnih križišč. Badly designed flyovers. Občutljiva narava v Sao Paulu – reka, ki je izginila pod urbanizacijo. The delicate nature of Sao Paulo – a river that has vanished under urbanization. Poplava na eni od strateških točk proizvodnje: glavna prometnica, ki povezuje vzhod in zahod mesta. Flooding of the strategic point of the production: the main highway that links east to west Pikice na ilustraciji označujejo točke, na katerih se ponavljajo poplave, ponavadi na dnu doline. The dots on the illustration mark the spots where the floo- ding occurs, normally in the valleys. predavanje Bele točke označujejo rezervoarje. The white dots represent the reservoirs. Rezervoar, postavljen tik ob hišah. Reservoir placed right next to people’s houses. Bolje postavljen rezervoar. Better placement for a reservoir. Lokacija nove soseske v Sao Paulu Barrio Novo; natečaj. Camila Fabrini, Guilherme Wisnik, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Martin Corullon, Milton Braga, 2004. The location of the new neighbourhood Sao Paulo Barrio Novo (New Neighbourhood ) competition. Camila Fabrini, Guilherme Wisnik, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Martin Corullon, Milton Braga, 2004. morda pa lahko imamo nekaj boljšega od naših onesnaženih rek. Vodni sistem Sao Paula je eden najbogatejših na svetu, mesto je skoraj kot sladkovodne Benetke. Obilje vode je skrito bogastvo mesta, ki do sedaj še ni bilo izkoriščeno. Potem, ko smo že toliko časa opozarjali na podobne probleme, so nam končno zaupali projekt za urbanizacijo manjše reke v faveli Paraisópolis. Najprej smo želeli degetoizirati območje, ga narediti bolj javnega in odpreti mestu, saj je sedaj od mesta ločena četrt. Želeli smo, da bi obrežje reke Antonio postalo kraj, ki ga ima vsakdo za svojega, ki pripada vsakomur, tako prebivalcem favele kot ostalim. Želeli smo tudi, da bi nabrežja postala del transportnega sistema mesta. Sistem transporta je v Sao Paulu zelo zapleten: obstajajo masovni prevozi, kot je podzemna železnica, vmesni sistemi, kot je avtobus, ter lokalni transportni sistemi, ki vključujejo prostore za kolesarje in pešce. Te prostori bi bili lahko povezani z obrežji manjših rek, kakor je na primer naša. Reka, ki jo obdelujemo, je bila do zdaj skrita pod hišami. Njen naravni tok je zelo šibek, le nekaj litrov na sekundo, vendar pa je trenutno do roba polna kanalizacije in odpadnih voda. Tudi naša šibka rečica lahko postane zelo nevarna: po hudem nalivu lahko njen tok naraste iz 50 litrov na sekundo v 14m3 na sekundo. Nalivi v Sao Paulu lahko namreč dosežejo 100 mm v 24 urah, kar v nekaterih krajih pomeni letno deževno stopnjo. Hkrati smo morali poskrbeti, da reka ostane prisotna in uporabna ter poskrbeti, da ni nevarna, kadar voda naraste. Skušali smo ločiti odvečno vodo in jo speljati v sifon, preprosto napravo, ki vodo spelje v rezervoar, kadar doseže določeno raven. Na ta način lahko prebivalci uživajo vodo tudi po hudem deževju. Rečno vodo je seveda potrebno očistiti kanalizacije, to je najnujnejši ukrep, brez katerega reka nikoli ne bo imela pozitivne podobe. Trudili smo se, da bi pri izvedbi projekta porušili kar najmanj hiš, saj gre večinoma za samogradnje, ki so prebivalcem zelo pomembne. Želeli smo vzpostaviti ravnotežje med ne prevelikimi posegi, ki pa bi vseeno ustvarili dovolj velik javni prostor. Eden od problemov javnega prostora v Sao Paulu je dejstvo, da je njegova podoba v javnosti zelo šibka. Če si prostor pridobivaš z rušenjem hiš, ostajajo njegove meje nejasne, saj njegova oblika sledi neformalni ureditvi mesta okoli njega, kar pa mu po drugi strani daje čar srednjeveškega. Podobno vlogo znotraj mesta igrajo tudi favele – so na srednjeveški način empirično oblikovana forma, ki jo skušamo ohranjati. Meje smo zato le minimalno popravljali, obstoječe hiše pa prilagodili le, kjer je bilo to neizogibno, tako da ne gledajo neposredno v javni prostor. Skušamo vzpostaviti jasno razmejitev med pozidanim – zasebnim ter praznim – javnim – prostorom ter pri tem ohraniti empirično morfologijo. Projekt je trenutno v fazi izvedbe. Forbidden City in Beijing where the former defence canals got turned into nice parks, or the former canals of Paris. Using urban machinery, we could build what every Paulista desires the most – the urban beaches that Rio de Janeiro has. We won’t really ever have those, but we still can have something better than our very polluted rivers; Sao Paulo’s water system is one of the richest in the world. It is almost like a fresh-water version of Venice. This is the hidden richness of the city that has so far not been explored. After talking about similar issues for so long, we were finally commissioned for a project of urbanisation of a small river in the Paraisópolis favela. First of all, we wanted to de-ghettoise this informal sector which is now a separated cluster in the city, and to open it to the rest of the city by making it more public. We wanted it to become a place that everybody understands as their city – people both from the inside and from the outside. We are making the river into a system that is much bigger than the favela itself. We also want it to become a part of the transportation system. Sao Paulo has a complex the transportation system: the mass transportation system like the metro lines, the intermediate transportation system such as the buses, and the local transportation systems comprised of spaces for cycling and walking, which could be associated with the smaller rivers. The river we are working with is right now mostly hidden under the houses. Its natural flow is very delicate, mere litres per second, but at the moment it is mostly filled with sewage. But this delicate river can become very dangerous -from the 50 litre per second flow coming from its springs, it can rise to 14 m3 per second after a heavy rain. This is because of severe rains that Sao Paulo receives, which can be as heavy as 100 mm in 24 hours -in some places, this is how much they’d get in an entire year. With this in mind, and the realisation that the river has to stay present and touchable, we tried to separate the dangerous water from the desirable water by using an overflow pipe, a very simple device that diverts the water to an overflow pipe after it reaches a certain level. Even after heavy rainfall, people will be able to enjoy the water. The water obviously has to be freed of the sewage; this is a basic requirement, without which the water will never represent a positive value. We made an effort to demolish as few houses as possible because they were all self-built, so they are very important to the people. We were constantly trying to establish a balance between not interfering too much and still making a significant public space. One of the problems of this public space is that its image is very weak. By taking out the houses to get the space, its borders become confusing and its general form remains informal. On the other hand, this gives it the appeal of the mediaeval, which is in a way very similar to the role the favelas play SLO ENG Ukvarjamo se tudi z obdelavo tlakov, ki bodo poenotili celoten prostor in ga pokazali kot zaključeno enoto sredi neformalnega mestnega predela. V središču, na osrednjem trgu predlagamo kulturni center in majhno mestno plažo. Ker voda verjetno kljub vsemu ne bo zelo čista, načrtujemo tudi nekaj vodnjakov. Sao Paulo pa ima nekaj javnih prostorov, ki so po mojem mnenju pomembna referenca za razumevanje katerega koli sodobnega mestnega prostora. Eden od njih je »Odprto polje« (»Free Span«), prostor okoli Muzeja umetnosti Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo Museum of Art) arhitektke Line Bo Bardi. Brazilski arhitekturni teoretik je temu in podobnim prostorom nadel ime »kraji brez imena«, saj njihovo ime ne izhaja iz njihovega programa, ki ga kot takega sploh nimajo, temveč izhaja iz njihovih arhitekturnih kvalitet. Kraji brez imena so zelo preprosti in prilagodljivi, vendar še zdaleč niso brezbrižni ali generični. V javnem prostoru, ki ga določa »Free Span«, se lahko odvijajo najrazličnejše dejavnosti: od kulturnih dogodkov in predstav do političnih srečanj ali modnih revij. Še en »kraj brez imena« je v Sao Paulu markiza v parku Ibirapuera, velika streha, ki pokriva park. Tudi tu se dogajajo najrazličnejše stvari: sejmi, festivali, športne prireditve in tako naprej. »Kraji brez imena« so pravo nasprotje megastruktur iz šestdesetih, saj so zelo prilagodljivi in nespecializirani. Preprosto jih je preoblikovati, saj so odprti za bodočo rabo. Ravno nasprotno pa velja za, na primer, projekt za Boston Bay, akademski projekt, v katerem Kenzo Tange mesto gradi kot eno velikansko zgradbo. To je seveda ekstremna verzija modernistične vizije mesta, ki je imela mesto za idealni objekt, ki ga je mogoče oblikovati v enem kosu. V Sao Paulu smo prepričani, da mesta ni mogoče oblikovati na tak način. Strinjamo se, da znotraj mesta prostor bolje deluje, če ni preveč specializiran, še posebej, ker je javnega prostora v Sao Paulu tako malo. V sodobnem mestu ne velja več, da več javnega prostora pomeni bogatejši javni prostor. Morda velja ravno obratno. Prepričani smo, da je bolje imeti manj močnejših javnih prostorov, kot veliko praznega. Na ta način se javni prostor tudi večkrat in bolje izrabi. Brasilia, prestolnica Brazilije, je modernistično mesto, ki se sooča z vsemi problemi in težavami modernističnega urbanizma, od funkcionalizma do ekstremnega coniranja. Vseeno je na nek način oblikovana pametno, saj je oblikovanje prilagojeno specifičnemu kraju, ne pa generični lokaciji. Brasilie niso nikoli načrtovali kot idealno mesto. Določajo jo njene urbanistične poteze, ne pa arhitekturne značilnosti, tako da v mestu zgradbam ne pripada glavna vloga. Urbani kontekst Brasilie določata dve osi, ki ju je zarisal Lucio Costa: monumentalna os in bivalna os. Ti dve osi sta temelj mesta, ki se ne bo nikoli spremenil. Na in the contemporary city – the empirically created mediaevalist form, which we are trying to preserve. We are therefore only slightly adjusting the borders, adapting the existing houses only where it is really necessary so that they don’t face the public space. We are trying to establish a clear division between the built – the private – and the empty – the public – while keeping the built empiric morphology. The project is currently underway. We are beginning to study the treatment of the pavements so the space becomes more significant and unique -not rare, but unique in terms of being one entity in the middle of that informal sector. In its central part, the square, we are proposing to have a community centre and a small urban beach. That water is not going to be extremely clean, so we are offering some fountains as well. Sao Paulo has some public spaces that I think are really important references for any contemporary urban space. One of them is Free Span, as the Museum of Art Sao Paulo by Lina Bo Bardi is called. A Brazilian critic called spaces like this “spaces without a name”. Their name doesn’t come from their programme -because they don’t have a predefined programme -but from their architectural qualities. Spaces without a name are very simple and flexible without being generic or indifferent. In the public space defined by Free Span, many different activities can take place: cultural events, shows, but also political events or for instance fashion shows. Another “space without a name” in Sao Paulo is the Marquise in the Ibirapuera Park, the large roof covering the park. Several things can take place there: fairs, festivals, sporting events, etc. The “spaces without a name” are total opposites of the megastructures of the sixties, i.e. very flexible and unspecialised. They are open to the future and can easily be transformed. The opposite is, for example, Kenzo Tange’s proposal for the Bay of Boston, his academic project, where everything was predefined, where the houses compose the city as if it were a big building. Tange’s is perhaps the extreme version of the modernist urban vision that considered a city an ideal object that could be designed in one go. In Sao Paulo we are certain that this is not the right way of designing a city. We agree that the less specialised the space, the better it is going to work in the city, especially because in Sao Paulo, the public space is very rare. In a contemporary city, it is no longer true that the more public space you have, the richer the space is going to be. Perhaps even the opposite is true. We think it’s better to have few very powerful public spaces than having a lot of free space because this way, the public space gets used a lot. Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, is a modern city, facing all the problems of modernist urbanism, from functionalism to extreme zoning. Nevertheless, its urban design is clever in a way because the design was made for a specific city, not a generic one. Naš predlog soseske, ki je osrediščena okrog bazena za zbiranje odvečne vode. Our proposal – a neighbourhood centred around a pool that collects the excess rainwater. Bazen v središču soseske. The pool in the centre of the neighbourhood. Onesnažena reka Pinheiros, ena največjih rek v Sao Paulu. Tik ob njej je skorajda čudežno čist bajer z veslaško progo, ki pa je odkrita podzemna voda, in ni del hidrografskega sistema mesta. The polluted Pinheiros River, one of the big rivers of Sao Paulo, right next to this magically clean water, the university rowing lane. The incredibly clean rowing lane is just an exposure of the underground water it is not part of the hydrographical system. predavanje Trga Plaza Mayor, glavni trg v Madridu. The Plaza Mayor, the central square in Madrid. Rowejeva analiza centra mesta Parme. Colin Rowe’s analysis of the Parma city centre. Podobna analiza centra Sao Paula. Similar analysis of Sao Paulo. Hidrografski načrt Sao Paula. The hydrographical chart of the water system of Sao Paulo. Brasilio sem se spomnil, ker sem prepričan, da so vprašanja in skrbi, s katerimi se arhitektura srečuje, na vseh merilih podobne. Tudi manjše zgradbe, kakršne projektiramo v našem biroju, na primer Fazenda Santa Rita, ki smo jo projektirali leta 1995, se morajo soočiti s podobnimi vprašanji, čeprav se jih morda niti ne zavedajo. Pri Fazendi smo predlagali del infrastrukture hiše, dva kamnita zidova, ki oblikujeta ploščad na zunanji strani hiše in jo napravita v neke vrste obrnjeni patio. Patio tokrat ni ograjen znotraj hiše, ampak je zunaj pred hišo. Tak patio je smiseln, saj se hiša nahaja sredi neskončnega prostora Brazilije, kjer daleč naokoli ni nobenih sledi človeške dejavnosti. Vse kar vidiš iz notranjosti, je narava. Patio določa zunanje ozemlje hiše. Zidovi in ploščad so osnova, strojna oprema hiše, ki se ne bo spremenila. Po drugi strani pa je notranjost neke vrste programska oprema. Konstrukcija je mehkejša in lažja, lahko jo je prilagoditi in jo narediti v, na primer, hišo, ki ima trenutno pisarno in knjižnico. Znotraj je mogoče karkoli spremeniti. Zidovi so lahki, iz tankega betona. Gradnja ima seveda veliko možnih pristopov. Vedno iščemo načine gradnje, ki omogočajo različne načine uporabe. Zgornja zgradba je trenutno v uporabi kot bivališče, verjetno bo vedno bivališče, gotovo pa se bo tekom svojega življenja pogosto spremenila. V severni Ameriki eno gospodinjstvo zamenja hišo v povprečju vsakih pet let. Hiše je torej potrebno stalno prilagajati, saj morajo biti uporabne za vrsto uporabnikov z različnimi potrebami. Naslednja hiša je Vila Romana v Sao Paulu. Nastala je na podlagi ideje, ki izhaja iz pomorske arhitekture, ideje osnovne ladijske lupine. Ladijska lupina prikliče idejo plovnosti in lebdenja. Znotraj lupine je skrito vse, kar bi motilo lebdenje – torej teža zidov, ki je potrebna za konstrukcijo hiše. Vila je postavljena na odlični lokaciji s čudovitim razgledom na Sao Paulo. Hišo smo projektirali z mislijo na pogled. Notranja organizacija prostorov je dokaj konvencionalna, vendar pa je njena vsebina hibridna: stanovanje je v zgornjem nadstropju, spodaj pa je umetniški atelje. Atelje ustreza vsem zahtevam, ki jih ima umetniški atelje, ima torej dovolj praznih sten in dobro svetlobo od zgoraj. Glavna značilnost hiše je njen odnos do okolice, saj se nahaja na najvišji točki mesta. Hiša v starem središču Salvador Bahie ima prav tako dobro lokacijo, na robu med kolonialnim delom mesta in njegovim novejšim industrijskim predelom – pristaniščem. Na vsako od strani je pogled iz hiše drugačen. Predlagali smo hišo v obliki cevi, ki povezujejo obe strani, saj hiša tako postane neke vrsti časovni stroj, ki omogoča pogled v preteklost in v prihodnost. Tudi tu sledimo načelu zagotavljanja osnovnih nujnih elementov, ki jih prebivalci dopolnijo glede na svoje potrebe. Zunanja temperatura je v Salvador Bahii enaka skozi vse leto, podnevi in ponoči, okrog 2528 Brasilia never tried to be an ideal city, an ideal place. It’s defined by its urban, rather than architectural features, so the buildings don’t play the most important role in the urban scene. The urban context is defined by the two axes laid out by Lucio Costa: the monumental axis and the residential axis. The two axes are the fundaments of the city that are not going to change. I’m showing you Brasilia because I think that the issues and the concerns architecture is facing are the same at every scale. Even in the smaller buildings that our office is designing, like for example the Fazenda Santa Rita that we designed in 1995, the same issues were present -maybe even without our being conscious of them. Here, for instance, we proposed an infrastructural part of the house, two stone walls creating a platform that works like a patio in a reverse fashion. Our patio is not enclosed as it is set outside, in front of the house. The outside patio makes sense because the farm is located in the middle of the endless space of Brazil, where you never see any human activity from the inside of the house, only nature, and therefore a patio on the platform marks the domain of the house. The walls and the platform represent the basics, the hardware of the house that is not going to change. The interior, on the other hand, represents the software, it’s a softer or lighter construction that can adapt, that can specialise the place for, say, a house; a house that now has an office and for example a library. Inside, everything can be changed. The walls are light, made of thin concrete. There are, of course, several possible approaches to building. We are always looking for constructions that allow several different uses; right now it is a house and it is most probably going to be a house forever, but surely it is going to change a lot in the course of its existence. For instance, in North America, a household only stays on the same property on the average for five years, so the houses have to be appropriate to accommodate several users and open to several configurations. The next house I’m going to present, the Vila Romana in Sao Paulo, is built around the idea of basic hull that comes from the naval architecture. The basic hull evokes the effect of flotation. Inside the hull, everything that would disturb the flotation is hidden – the weight that is necessary for the construction of the house. The villa is located in a very nice spot in Sao Paulo that has a superb view over the city. We designed the house with this view in mind. In the end, the organisation of the interior is more or less conventional but the programme of the house is hybrid; the residence is located on the upper floor and there is an art studio in the lower floor. The studio is designed with the basic requirements of an artist’s workspace in mind: lots of walls and nice light coming from a skylight. The main feature of the house is the nice relationship with the landscape, because it is located at the highest point of Sao Paulo. SLO ENG stopinj Celzija, tako da je hiša lahko zelo odprta. Ker ni potrebe po zapiranju, smo omogočili prost pretok zraka skozi hišo. Ena od prednosti projektiranja v Braziliji je brezskrbnost (še posebej v primerjavi z na primer Slovenijo). Znotraj hiše je tudi plavalni bazen. Zgornje nadstropje mora biti bolj zaprto, saj so tam spalnice, vendar pa je vsaj čez dan mogoče odpreti vse. Ker je hiša del starega mesta, je na dveh straneh vpeta med obstoječe zgradbe, odnos z zunanjostjo pa gradi skozi cevem ali predorom podobne prostore s pogledi na obe strani. Dvojna orientacija prebivalcem hiše omogoča prijetno jutranje sonce za zajtrk s skodelico kave za začetek dneva ter večerno svetlobo za suh Martini ob koncu dne. Zaključil bom z našim idejnim predlogom za sodobno stanovanjsko enoto. Prosili so nas za projekt stanovanjske zgradbe, ki bo prilagojena prihodnosti Sao Paula. Mesto se bo zelo zgostilo, tako da smo načrtovali nekaj v tej smeri. Želeli smo, da bi ljudje ostali v stalnem stiku z mestom in zato smo predlagali prilagodljiva stanovanja. Vsa stanovanja so orientirana na dve strani, kar je dobro za prezračevanje. Še dodatno prezračevanje pa poteka skozi reže v tleh, tako da so dobro prezračeni vsi, tudi najmanjši prostori in kopalnice. Tloris stanovanja je zasnovan iz premičnih elementov, ki omogočijo, da se vanje naselijo različni uporabniki: družine, pari ali več študentov, ki si delijo štiri sobe. Stanovanja z monotono konfiguracijo, nekaj fiksnimi elementi in prilagodljivim oblikovanjem notranjosti računajo na svoje uporabnike, da bodo tja prinesli svojo domišljijo. Če spodbudiš domišljijo ljudi, postane vsako okno veliko bolj zanimivo od arhitekture same. Maja Vardjan: Ob srečanju z vso to gostoto ljudi v Sao Paulu, mi je prišlo na misel vprašanje participacije. V umetnosti je debata o participaciji trenutno zelo živa, manj pa jo je zaslediti v arhitekturnem svetu. Ali skušate v svoje projekte vključiti tudi ljudi? Milton Braga: V Braziliji imamo s posegi v neformalne predele mest ter s stiki z revnejšimi sloji družbe že veliko izkušenj in področje je kar dobro organizirano. Najboljši smo ravno v stikih z ljudmi in v izmenjavi idej. Vsakega od projektov predebatiramo z ljudmi, vse posege pa ponavadi vodi multidisciplinarna skupina strokovnjakov. Ljudje, ki živijo v revnejših predelih, z mestnim dogajanjem pogosto niso seznanjeni, včasih ne vedo čisto natančno, kaj bi z novo zgradbo, ki so jo dobili, sploh počeli. Pogosto jih je treba naučiti, kako se uporabljajo skupni prostori. To področje je v Braziliji dobro razvito. Vendar pa včasih želje ljudi zares niso relevantne, ali pa jih je nemogoče uresničiti na logičen način, kadar razvijaš projekt za večje število ljudi, na primer za 1000. Ugotovili smo, da je bolje, če strokovnjaki predlagamo rešitve, jasno oblikujemo svoje ideje in z njimi prepričamo ljudi, da so zanje najboljše, ne pa jih le poslušamo. The residence in the historic centre of Salvador Bahía also has a nice location on the edge between the colonial city of Salvador and its newest, industrial part – the port. The house overlooks different scenery on each side. We proposed a house in the shape of several tubes that link both sides, so the house becomes a time tunnel that allows you to look both in the past and into the future. The house follows our idea of providing basic qualities that the inhabitants themselves complete with what they need. The temperature in Salvador Bahia is the same throughout the whole year, day and night, 25-28 degrees, therefore the house can be very open and there is no need for enclosures, so everything ventilates. This is one of the advantages of designing in Brazil; it is more or less worry-free. There is a swimming pool inside the house. Only the upper floor needs more enclosure due to the bedrooms being located there, but it’s still open so during the day the air crosses the house. Because the house is part of the old city, it’s blocked on the two main sides, so it builds a strong relationship with the outside through its tunnel-shaped spaces. The two-way orientation allows its inhabitants to have a nice morning sun for a breakfast with coffee and beautiful evening sun for a Martini Dry at the end of the day. I would like to conclude with an ideal proposal of a contemporary residential unit. We were asked to propose a residence that is going to be tailored for the future of Sao Paulo. The city is going to become very dense so we have to take advantage of that organisation. We wanted the people to be in touch with the city so we proposed a block of customisable apartments. The flats have double-sided facade, which is very good for ventilation. The additional ventilation is provided by gaps under the floor, so every small room and even the bathrooms can be ventilated. The plans of the apartments are defined by mobile elements such as the movable walls that allow several possible users – a family, a couple, or students – sharing four rooms. The rather monotonous configuration of flats with flexible design and few fixed elements presupposes their becoming occupied by very interesting people that are going to bring their own imagination into our building. By awaking people’s imagination, every individual window is going to be much more interesting that the architecture by itself. Maja Vardjan: After being confronted with this immense density of people in Sao Paulo, the issue of participation comes to mind. There is an important debate about participation going on in the art world right now, but I do not see that much of it in architecture. Do you try to involve local residents to be part of your projects? Milton Braga: Brazil has experience with interventions in the informal sectors and with dealing with the poorer parts of the society, so this is now quite Reurbanizacija področja reke Antonio. Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 2009. Antonio River valley re-urbanisation. Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 2009. Favela Paraisópolis z reko. The favela Paraisópolis with the river we are working on. Najmanjši plavalni bazen na svetu. Ljudje skušajo uživati, čeprav nimajo prave plaže. Mi pa skušamo na reki ustvariti vsaj majhno plažo. The smallest swimming pool in the world. Even not having the proper beach people are enjoying themselves. We are trying to make this river a small beach. predavanje Sistem odtekanja odvečne vode. The overflow system. Free Span, Muzej Umetnosti Sao Paulo, Lina Bo Bardi. The Free Span, the Museum of Art Sao Paulo by Lina Bo Bardi. well-organised. What we know best is how to relate to the people and have them exchange ideas with each other. Normally, every project is discussed with people through several rounds and there is usually a multidisciplinary team developing the interventions. The people that live in the poorer areas are often not very familiar with the urban scene; sometimes they do not know what exactly to do with the new building that they have been given. So it’s sometimes necessary to teach them how to use collective buildings for instance. This aspect is very well developed in Brazil. But sometimes, the desires of the people are either simply not relevant, or not possible to comply with in a logical way -e.g. when you are developing a project for, say 1000 people. So we have come to realise that when the professionals propose solutions, they have to make their ideas clear so people can accept them and take advantage of them, rather than just sit there and listen. Naš predlog ureditve reke Antonio. Our proposal for the river Antonio. Javni prostor, ki je pogosto v uporabi. A very much used public space in Sao Paulo. Tloris hiše Fazenda Santa Rita. The plan of the Fazenda Santa Rita. Prerez hiše Fazenda Santa Rita. Section of the Fazenda Santa Rita. Lokacija reka Antonio. The location -Antonio River. Brasilia pred začetkom gradnje. Brasilia in the beginning of the construction Center skupnosti. The Community Centre. Hiša Fazenda Santa Rita, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 1995. Dva kamnita zidova in platforma. Fazenda Santa Rita, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga, 1995. The two stone walls and the platform. Hiša Vila Romana, Sao Paulo, 2005 Vila Romana, Sao Paulo, 2005. SLO ENG Prerez hiše Vila Romana. Vila Romana, notranjost. Razgled. Vila Romana Section. Vila Romana interior view. The view. Tloris hiše Vila Romana. Vila Romana Plan Obstoječa hiša, ki je bolj ali manj ruševina, Salvador Bahia. The existing, colonial house, almost a ruin, Salvador Bahia. Tloris tretjega nadstropja. Plan -Third Floor Vila Romana. Vila Romana Prerez. The section. Naš predlog za stanovanja prihodnosti. Namenoma smo izbrali sivo barvo, saj osnovna siva barva najbolje ponazarja preprostost naših stanovanj. Our proposal for the apartments of the future. We have chosen the grey colour on purpose, because the basic grey conveys the simplicity of the apartment best. Vila Romana, hiša z razgledom. Vila Romana, a house with a view. Tloris pritličja. Plan –Ground Floor Eno od stanovanj, ki ga je posvojil Charles Moore, ameriški arhitekt z veliko domišljije. One of the apartments appropriated by Charles Moore, the American architect, with a great imagination. Tloris prvega nadstropja. Plan – First Floor Tloris drugega nadstropja. Plan – Second Floor