In-formal. Urban Infrastructure Revisited

Lassance, Guilherme, Beatriz Gomes, Lucas Freitas et Nicholas Manso. In-formal. Infraestrutura urbana revisitada / Urban Infrastructure Revisited. Rio de Janeiro : Rio Books, 2024.

Abstract 

Urban infrastructure projects have been designed according to a strictly utilitarian, single-purpose approach and with little integration into the urban and social context in which they are implemented. By mapping instances of informal appropriation of designed infrastructure in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, this study has identified and developed a series of alternative spatial and functional categories capable of contributing to the planning of a more hybrid, resilient and inclusive city. Urban infrastructure projects have been designed according to a strictly utilitarian, monofunctional logic, with little integration into the urban and social context in which they are implemented. Through mapping informal appropriations of designed infrastructure in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, the study was able to identify and construct a series of alternative spatial and functional categories that can contribute to planning a city that is more hybrid, resilient and inclusive.

The book is bilingual Portuguese/English.

A finalist for the Best Book Award at the 14th Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, the book will be presented at the Biennial’s international exhibition, to be held in Brasília from 3 to 6 November 2026.

Link: https://bienaliberoamericana.org/seleccion/