Outros Territorios – Call for Urban Intervention Projects
Vazio S/A, Coletivo Aurora and Eduardo de Jesus have launched the open competition Outros Territórios – International Call for Urban Intervention. Outros Territórios (Other Territories) is a suite of ephemeral interventions proposed for a hilly neighborhood in Belo Horizonte, Brazil called Buritis. The plan envisages an instantaneous transformation of the landscape through the simultaneous occupation of the many stilt systems propping up the hillside buildings.
The array of forgotten spaces, ignored for their unsightly strangeness, will be infused with city life through an event that posits an open field of study: the latent possibilities in the existing city. This will be an opportunity to test new ideas, exchange experiences and awaken sensibilities; a way of showing that modest interventions with limited resources can generate lasting change and become instruments through which to devise alternative solutions for the urban recomposition of such a frayed urban fabric as Belo Horizonte’s. Installations, projections, light art, plays, horticulture, landscape interventions, objects, ephemeral constructions and extreme sports are just some of the many possible ways these spaces could be occupied.
The interventions will be chosen through a public, international open call for projects and the selected ideas will comprise an exhibition at the left-field venue Viaduto das Artes (Arts Underpass)—Phase I.
Phase II of Outros Territórios will execute a number of the projects selected during Phase I and organize a free itinerary for visiting the executed works. The idea is to configure a circuit for debate on issues pertaining to the city, explore interfaces between architecture, the visual arts, public lighting and the cityscape, and problematize city management, environmental and architectonic liabilities, urban voids and the real-estate market.
Outros Territórios is sponsored by Banco Mercantil do Brasil and has the institutional support of Belotur (City Hall of Belo Horizonte), the Institute of Architects of Brazil – Minas Gerais chapter, and AsBAI.
Proponents can register online at any time until close of registration on 22 of January 2019. Release of the results will be on 29 of January 2019.
The Term of Reference in English is available in this link
The Term of Reference in Portuguese is available in this link
More information at the website outrosterritorios.com.br.
Outros Territorios – Call for Urban Intervention Projects
[Excerpt from the Term of Reference]: Continuing right along Professor Euclydes Ferreira we reach the largest stilt systems on our itinerary, the giant stilts. This one is the largest of them all, measuring nearly 60 meters across and 22 meters high. Inside, the stilt structure subdivides into smaller halls that are far from uniform, with different segments having their own specific characteristics and heights. In some of these segments, exposed plumbing, water tanks and drainpipes can be encountered. Closer to the street out back there are some level mounds that serve as veritable belvederes, with the stilts framing some excellent views of the neighborhood. The fragmented nature of this massive stilt system allows for countless different approaches to occupation. Unfortunately, there is no access to the stilts internally or externally, but certain possibilities might be worth exploring on both counts.
[Excerpt from the Term of Reference]: The last stilt system on Outros Territorios itinerary, this one is very similar to that previously described, being similarly colossal in scale, with a horizontal, regular design offering expressive views of the surroundings. The main difference between these two “giants” is the greater continuity of the internal spaces here, which form a massive open gallery. The building is surrounded by other stilted apartment blocks, so its already vast scale seems further amplified spatially, almost like a hall of mirrors multiplying the space ad infinitum. There is little or no vegetation here, and most of the ground is soft or beaten earth, sometimes sloping, sometimes level. The structure can be accessed from Professor Euclydes Ferreira Street, but not from inside the building. An intervention planning a temporary public occupation of the space may require the installation of stairways, railings and ramps, etc.
