Project: Workshop ´CITY FLOODINGS´ (2010)

Site: Escola da cidade, São Paulo, Brazil
Participants: Joris Weijts (West8), Fábio Valentim (Una arquitetos), Sander Troost (studio troost) with the students Luis Fernando Tavares, Marcela Ferreira, Marina Rago and Marinho Vellos


Results of the workshop ´CITY FLOODINGS´, organized by the NAi and Studio X Lab São Paulo, part of Columbia University NY. Our proposal to resolve the problem of the floodings that occur in São Paulo is based upon towers with vertical natural waterfilters which will be spread over the city. Rainwater will run trough the tower passing various stages and types of vegetation. During the process, the filters can buffer the water during a couple of days. Apart from cleaning the water, the filtertower is also a vertical garden, creating new microclimates and green spaces in the city. Abandoned buildings can be used for filtertowers, transforming them into references throughout the city. The treated water creates innumerous possibilities to reeintegrate the now polluted rivers within the public space of the city.