Cabral Lookout / Cidade Quintal

Cabral Lookout / Cidade Quintal

+ 7

Text description provided by the architects. Twenty-four thousand plastic caps donated by residents of the Morro do Quadro neighborhood in Vitória-ES served as the basis for socio-spatial improvements in a lookout point in the region. The project, which involved community agency, creation, and execution, was developed by Cidade Quintal and was part of the actions of the MC Festival – favela edition, held by the Cidade Movement.

The Cabral Lookout is a space that offers a panoramic view of the urban and natural landscape of the island of Vitória. It is high up, at a crossroads between alleys and the main staircase that leads to the top of the hill. In the daily lives of residents, it is a stopping point for rest after a long climb. For children living nearby, it is a place for play, as the neighborhood square is in the lowland.

Beyond everyday experiences, it is a meeting point for the Serenata D’Favela choir, an initiative that for 13 years has driven young talents from the neighborhood through music. According to members, it is the perfect setting for video recordings and performances that showcase the power of the place: the people and their incredible view of other communities. It was Serenata D’Favela that embraced the project, helped define the intervention space, and closely followed the development.

On the way to the lookout is Vicente’s house, a mason who innovated in the neighborhood by covering his home’s facade with colorful caps. The result is an effect similar to glass tiles that makes the house a stopping point for observation. Vicente inspired the first ideas for the transformation of the lookout and mentored during the process.

The improvements involve the construction of a plateau facing the view, as well as repairs, paintings, and the insertion of graphic panels made with plastic caps. Access to the lookout is by foot, through alleys and staircases. This was one of the biggest challenges faced in the project’s execution, due to the amount of materials that needed to be manually carried, such as sand, gravel, cement, paint, and tools.

In a short time, a sequence of activities was carried out, from waste mobilization and co-creation with the community to panel assembly with plastic and implementation, which was possible thanks to the sense of collaboration of all partners during the process.

The central space in the transformations of the Cabral Lookout was a plateau that faces the main view. According to neighbors, there used to be a house occupied by three sisters, Maria, Eliza, and Serafina, who left the space sometime before the city built the main staircase that cuts through the top of the hill – and also cut the house. Even with what was left of it, a broken floor, a staircase, and plenty of weeds, there were children who liked to play there. In the project, the floor was formalized, enabling new, safer, and more fun appropriations for children.

The plateau became the widest space of the lookout, ideal for presentations and recordings. A staircase that was already there was used, from where it is possible to have privileged angles for filming and photographic rehearsals, as well as serving as a grandstand from where you can see the paintings and the view.

Circular practice: From plastic waste to requalified space. Morro do Quadro is not the only periphery experiencing the effects of a lack of adequate waste management policy. Despite irregular points of ‘garbage’ being seen throughout the neighborhood and all the stigma that this scenario carries, works such as Vicente’s Caps house should also be considered, which somehow redefines this reality.

“Donate caps and contribute to a community project,” was the highlighted phrase on the collectors scattered throughout local businesses and schools. Activating the community for a waste donation campaign and presenting a final result from which everyone can benefit is a circular practice capable of promoting awareness and mobilizing more lasting changes.