BRAZIL URBAN DESIGN
a cross cultural townscape study
Urban environments take many shapes, forms and sizes.
Oxford
Rocinha favela
Pelotas
The iconic university town, Oxford's city centre maintains a uniquely historical townscape. With a wealth of neo-classical architecture, and an establish road layout the urban form of Oxford has remained vastly unchanged for hundreds of years. Gordon Cullen famously used Oxford as an example to illustrate the traditional 'picturesque' townscape.
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Located on the steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Rocinha is the largest favela in Brazil. The Brazilian Census estabilshed a population figure of 69,356 (2010) residents living in the favela, though many unofficial estimates quote numbers much larger than this - anywhere from 180,000 to 250,000 people. Covering an area of roughly 144 hectares, Rocinha feels like its own self-contained city within a city. With no planning regulation inforce, Rocinha has grown incrementally with the needs of its reisdents creating a wholly organic urban form.
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Pelotas is situated in the Brazil's southern most state, Rio Grande Sol and is the third most populus city in the region. Founded in the 19th century, the city was a prominant centre of commerce due the growing number of ranches in the area, helping to establish the city's early population. Among these settlers was a number of Portugese ranchers, responsible for the strong portugese influence in the city's architecture. Boasting grand roads, and a rigid street layout, the urban form present in Pelotas is arranged in a regular grid throughout the city.
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the picturesque city
the organic city
the grid city
Gordon Cullen noted that cities often take one of several different patterns of configuration and as a result, should display a distinctly different townscape from another. The aim of this study is to observe this variance through a comparative analysis of three distinct urban forms - the picturesque city, the organic city, and the grid city. Using Cullen's principle of 'serial vision', the study will consist of a sequential photo analysis along a route through each urban environment. This analysis will help understand how each city's unique form impacts the townscape as experienced by the 'observer' along their journey. The inclusion of two Brazilian environments, Rocinha favela and Pelotas, provides a unique opportunity to observe urban forms not traditionally found in the UK.