articulating systemic and local concerns: the network of piscinões The issues involving water resources — urban drainage, sanitation and water supply —are complex and demand efforts at both macro and micro levels. Since 1990 it has been dealt with by the State Plan of Water Resources (PERH) and Macro-drainage plan for the Upper Tiete Basin. One of the solutions proposed for city flooding is the construction of a set of large reservoirs, piscinões, to retain and control rain water, holding it back from city rivers and streams, reducing any overflow. In short, the piscinão replaces the original regulating function of the fluvial plains, now occupied and fully impermeable. Presently, there are about 39 built reservoirs out of a total estimate of 131, which will be able to hold 15.5 million cubic metres of water. They are distributed throughout the micro-tributary basins of Tiete River, covering the entire São Paulo water system. Many are located in peripheral areas, close to informal sectors of city occupation. Thus, in order to face the metropolitan dimension of flooding problems, there must be some meaningful public investment in peripheral areas. Finding a fit between the metropolitan and local dimensions of this question is the starting point toward any solution. The ‘informal’ sectors have the most need for public spaces. In São Paulo, where disputes over space are often mediated by violence, there are still some unoccupied areas: pieces of land usually devoted to football fields, and other community activities. In the informal sectors, samba, funk dance and football matches are important events for the construction of social and communal networks, highly neces- sary for the strengthening of relationships to resist the adversities present in a large metropolis. They are a spontaneous manifestation that shows the value of public space in these areas. The collection of vacant urban spaces in São Paulo that can be converted into an opportunity for a new network of public spaces. For example, the piscinão is only active about 3 to 4 months out of the year, during high-water periods. For the other months it is idle. New programs can be added to the piscinão, building on the future steps of the Macro-drainage Plan. Piscinões unite both the system of the borough’s public spaces and the technical system for the drainage, treatment and re-use of water resources. They can serve as a landmark and spatial reference on the cityscape of the borough, laying water’s claim to the floodplain.
SÃO PAULO: WATER VOIDS MMBB: Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira, Milton Braga team: Lucas Girard, Manon Fantini, Marina Sabino, Rodrigo Brancher collaborators: Armando Tobias de Aguiar , Renato Cymbalista photographers: Lalo de Almeida, Nelson Kon
on site review 17
31
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator