PORTO SEGURO, Italy, Milan, 2024

Temporary Installation

Porto Seguro is an EX FIGURA curation of Studio Christian Kerez's project in São Paulo, Brazil, in collaboration with ETH Zurich. The exhibition at Corso Italia, Milan, on one of the apartments of the residential complex designed by Luigi Caccia Dominioni, completed between 1957-64, displayed the original models of the project by Christian Kerez, in an exclusive event that counted with the presence of the Swiss architect.

“Initially, we were asked to submit a proposal to improve the favela in Porto Seguro close to Paraisópolis, São Paulo. I was so impressed by the sheer beauty of the favela that I proposed to expand it rather than try to improve it, which seemed impossible to me. We intended for the design to become the first legal favela in South America, reflecting our utmost respect for the favela and its inhabitants. We were able to increase both the variety of spaces and the density of housing, directly connecting all apartments to the streets and squares to retain the vitality of the existing favela. Community leaders strongly supported the project, since it offered an alternative to the usual social housing units and their modern anonymous spaces between the housing modules. After achieving a very elaborate and detailed building permit that respected all building codes, as for fire protection and natural ventilation, new political leadership abandoned the project. Criminals occupied the plot and transformed it into a dangerous place, and eventually the favelados occupied a site elsewhere in the city.” Christian Kerez