Virginia Fernandez Rincon
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system to increase the short and sporadic water supply coming from the city. Waste is collected, compacted and transported to small transfer facilities managed by the municipal waste service. The path also carries water, electricity and sewage pipes and provides safe and legal connections to this services for the surrounding houses in each node. This intervention recognises that new barrios will keep forming, and existing ones will expand when land is available. It anticipates their growth with proper infrastructure but
This project is sited in the currently empty hillsides where the soil is considered moderately stable, towards which the barrios are quickly expanding. The spine of services, public buildings and civic spaces acts as a framework for growth that is itself developed in stages as the barrio grows. The proposed infrastructure combines multiple systems. It performs as aqueduct, sewer and electric line: cistern and dump; path, bridge and landmark. Each spine is located in one of the many ravines that cover the mountain. These areas are especially vulnerable to landslides when frequent and torrential rains drain through them towards the Macarao River. Acting as a retaining wall, the infrastructure spine is built into the mountainside to allow for water flow absorption. Additional mechanical anchors stabilise the soil around the ravines and extend to mark the limits of construction in high-risk areas. The spine collects rain and storm water from roofs the paved paths and stairs in the barrio itself. After water is collected, it is filtered and pumped back into the municipal water
top: the view by 2016: like the barrio, the proposed infra- structure is open and flexible, encouraging different uses and transformation through time right: the view by 2020 facing page: plan and section: the spine collects and filters water, compacts waste and distributes basic services.
without the rigidity and speculation that characterises formal development. It is
easily replicable and adaptable as it allows for incremental growth that can follow the particularities of each existing and future barrio and its land. Weak infrastructure – one that preempts growth without shaping it – can service the continuous expansion of informal settlements to create an armature for a weak, yet more liveable city. ~
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