Exchange of experiences and learning between designers and grassroots initiatives in public spaces: the case of Coletivo Maré in Rio de Janeiro / RJ

Abstract

Grassroots initiatives of favelas and peripheral metropolitan areas have been overcoming vulnerability issues through the years by means of art, sport, music and other practices resulting in social empowerment. This research selects as a case of study the Coletivo Maré, a grassroots initiative that acts in two spaces of collective use at the Complexo da Maré, a cluster of favelas located at the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. This study aims to identify relevant aspects from the exchange of experiences between brazilian designers who work with the urban space, coordinators and participants of the initiative, focusing in activities of transformation and requalification of the occupied spaces. This approach seeks the production of knowledge for brazilian designers in order to expand paths to participative design projects at the urban space through collaborative experimental methods that investigates and permeates initiative activities. Besides that, the investigation seeks relevance for popular practices in spaces of collective use at the metropolis and, at the same time, enriches the field of knowledge of design in the informal and urban scope. (AU)