Future-horizon-zones: New urban & landscape planning strategies in Afro-Brazilian areas

Africa and Latin America. Geographically distant, accumulated by deep social problems and intimately connected by common roots: both cultures have penetrated over centuries and are still closely linked (largest population of native Africans lives in Brazil, as well Brazilians in Nigeria). The respective transformations analysis can offer new and alternative solutions to city’s development model as conceived today, making urban change- rapid, complex and specific- purpose of the research. Currently, the population migration to urban centers leads to a massive soil consumption , making “finding space” problem primary in settlement policies. The progressive urbanization opens questions: how to respect involvement of existing local spontaneous settlements (marginal, emergency) in the bigger picture of contemporary project, moving through categories such as innovation-globalization and conservationenhancement of local identities? S-American favelas and E- African villages, forged on community and tribe values, represents examples of spontaneous, urban and peri-urban architecture, characterized by strong mix between internal / private and external / public space. The firsts, who wants to make room in the built, engulfing residues of land and landscape are going to compact urban areas , inserting themselves as an ever expanding interstitial system; the seconds who historically uses green as a separation strategy, are now increasing tending to cities’ structure, making primary thoughts about context, soil and infrastructure relationship. Through analysis of compositional matrices and relationship between inhabited center and context, the crosssectional Afro-Brazilian reading aims to underline elements that are useful for a strategical approach to contemporary design, underling natural and artificial mediation possibility.