Thesis Revelo La Rotta

Thesis: Natalia Revelo La Rotta

This project supports the claim that Favelas are a type of urbanism that does not solely exist as a strategy of survival, but as a form of resistance. Therefore, the knowledge, tactics, practices, and organization strategies that have emerged and continue to emerge from favelas are explored within the research and employed as the building blocks for this design process. This project acknowledges music, poetry, self-reported journalism, graffiti, storytelling, construction, performance, and other activities as agents that inform the socio-spatial construction of favelas. All of which will support the in-depth analysis of the spatial agency of three typological case studies: a museum (Museu da Maré), public plaza (Pedra do Sal), and a cultural center (Insituto Favela da Paz) that exist within Brazilian favelas.

Natalia Revelo La Rotta

Natalia Revelo La Rotta
For this Design Thesis, I use the tools of architecture practice and theory to explore an imaginative project of transition design. This is done through the development of a design process that utilizes spatial, material, and programmatic lessons from the analysis of the case studies and personal involvement in Catalytic Communities’ Sustainable Favela Network to design a network of transformation of Rio de Janeiro’s Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP) favela centers into a network of community spaces that embrace collectivity and mutual aid. This process and spaces are speculated to ultimately support the development of favelas as autonomous communities. The thesis explores this strategy through the transformation of Morro da Formiga’s UPP building as the pilot project that serves as a grounding example of the theoretical development of the larger network of collective organizations. The Formiga Pilot Project provides basic services for the development of autonomy, such as communal, local sourced resources, education programing, technical workshops, and community programming, while supporting the unique expertise that Formiga’s residents have, such as the Water Societies and community gardens and reforestation efforts.
Natalia Revelo La Rotta
Natalia Revelo La Rotta
Natalia Revelo La Rotta

Thesis: Natalia Revelo La Rotta

Faculty