The Third Water Park (H3O), a partnership involving Flavio Agostini (M3 Arquitetura), Silvio Todeschi, Alexandre Campos, and Ana Assis, is part of a greater work comprising the entire Favela da Serra (estimated population of 50,000 inhabitants), and is considered one of the greatest interventions of this kind ever made in Brazil. Among the several squares included in the master plan conceived by the architects only the Fitness Square (yellow wall, project by Vazio S/A) was actually built. The Citizen’s Center (green building, project by Flavio Agostini, Silvio Todeschi, and Alexandre Campos) is a community center that operates as a square wrapped in translucent tiles. The centre runs programmes that attract hundreds of community members. Besides the H3O park, the intervention includes the construction of a four-lane route integrating the slum and the neighbouring districts, social housing blocks, sewage system, interceptors surrounding the Terceira Água stream, skate rinks, sports courts, and community vivarium, etc.

Photos: Eduardo Eckenfels, Carlos Teixeira, Leonardo Finotti