
RE-FARMING: the construction of a productive landscape in Recife - B.Arch final thesis
(Author: Kilda Oliveira / Advisor: Ana Rolim)
This urban design proposal is located in the ‘Expanded Continental Center’ in Recife, NE Brazil. It challenges a serious issue in contemporary Brazilian cities where private properties have minimized interface with the public space, marking the individualist approach of capitalist societies.
Alternatively, numerous social movements in the country inspire us to imagine a more collective city. We borrow the notion of ‘Refarming” from Gilbero Gil’s 1975 homonymous song as a call to narrow the human-nature relationship. Geographically Recife is intrinsically connected to the Capibaribe River, but since mid-20th century the land-water ratio has changed dramatically.
Based on the concepts of Continuous Productive Urban Landscape - CPUL (Bohn & Viljoen, 2005) and Augmented Landscapes (Smout Allen, 2007), we propose to reclaim the presence of the river and ‘re-farm’ the city.
Avocado tree
We will accept your act
We are also from the bushes
Like the duck and the lion
We will wait
We will play in the stream
Until they bring us fruit
Your love, your heart
(Gilberto Gil, 1975)