Environment
Greening the Favela
In the dense favelas of Rio de Janeiro, residents are turning scarce empty space into community gardens.
RIO DE JANEIRO—Crawling up the side of the sweeping mountain that marks the end of Ipanema beach, Vidigal is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most distinctive favelas. When resident Carlos Augusto Graciano, an architect, got the chance to build a minibus shelter here a few years ago, he knew he wanted to do something different.
At the time, residents who rely on the minibuses to haul them up the steep hill and into Vidigal’s dense maze had to wait out in the open street, regardless of torrential rain or punishing summer temperatures. “I wanted to do something that could change residents’ lives and the city’s direction,” Graciano said. “Something that wouldn’t be common. That’s when I started thinking about a rooftop garden.”