By Daniel Schweimler
RTCC in Rio
This installation alongside Rio’s famous Copacabana beach was inspired by the homes built in the city’s favelas or shanty towns. It has a simple window looking out on the sea.
It was designed by locally based architects, Sarah Swolfs and Patricia Padilha from the company, Barst.
It was commissioned for the duration of the Rio+20 conference and is made up of hundreds of plastic boxes used by favela dwellers to carry food. They are bound together by thousands of recycled plastic ties while the structure is weighted down by tonnes of sand from the beach.
It was constructed by residents from the nearby Babilonia and Chapeu Magueira favelas – both of which have recently been pacified or liberated from the control of criminal gangs by the authorities.