Ester Carro and social architecture: how to transform realities with impactful projects traduzido por: OPENROUTER

Many architectural projects begin with the design of the layout, an aesthetic demand, or the choice of materials. Those by Ester Carro often start from more elementary questions: living with more safety, having a bathroom inside the house, or even transforming an abandoned lot into a community space.

Founder of the Fazendinhando Institute at 23 years old — a project dedicated to the territorial, cultural, and socio-environmental transformation of favelas —, Ester left Paraisópolis to become one of the leading names in social architecture in Brazil. Now a PhD candidate in Architecture and Urbanism at Mackenzie, she also brought this perspective to CASACOR São Paulo, in participations at the 2023 and 2024 editions that continue to bear fruit today. Below, a complete interview about Ester Carro's trajectory.

From the dream of being a teacher to social architecture

(Instituto Fazendinhando/CASACOR)

Ester Carro's dream, initially, was not to be an architect. A resident of Jardim Colombo, in the Paraisópolis Complex, she spent her childhood and adolescence imagining that she would grow up to become a teacher. After hearing many times from friends — and even from her own teachers — that she should consider another path, she decided to give architecture a chance.

Although they are quite different paths, Ester's purpose in both professions was the same: to change the place where she grew up. The young woman worked at an architecture office, at the Department of Housing and at the Department of Urban Infrastructure and, even before completing her undergraduate degree, she had already founded Fazendinhando.

"I started to look at architecture with different eyes, beyond the creative process. It was at that moment that I understood its importance as an instrument of social transformation of favelas. When I better understood the possibilities of the profession, that was when I became enchanted," she recalls in an interview with CASACOR.

Architecture as an instrument of transformation

Ester faced several barriers to structure Fazendinhando, in 2021. The project was one of the first aimed at building decent, safe, and accessible housing and public spaces for low-income people or those in situations of vulnerability in Brazil: so-called social architecture. According to her, when she started, there were no references in the field from which she could draw inspiration.

"In college, social architecture was not discussed. When we thought about working in favelas, the work was always related to public power, to urbanism. The work I do today is different. They are precarious dwellings, invisible interiors. They are small spaces, but they have great impacts," she comments.

Inauguração da nova mini casa do Tiquinho, no Jardim Colombo (Onenoir/CASACOR)

Today, however, Ester perceives a different reality: governments, companies, and architects themselves have begun to look more attentively at what happens inside the favelas and to mobilize in search of improvements. In this scenario, Fazendinhando divides its work into different fronts and also seeks to train other institutions in Brazil and around the world. Among its main projects are:

• Fazendinha: Project to transform a landfill in Jardim Colombo in collaboration with residents and volunteers to create a community public space using reused materials.

• Fazendeiras: Initiative dedicated to training women residents of communities through courses and actions in the areas of gastronomy, crafts, and civil construction.

• Fazendolar: Front dedicated to the renovation of homes in precarious conditions, with the aim of transforming the houses into more dignified, safe, and comfortable homes.

No Jardim Colombo, em Paraisópolis (SP), o antigo terreno da Fazendinha foi transformado em parque e espaço cultural pelo Instituto Fazendinhando, criado por moradores para promover a regeneração urbana e social da comunidade. (Instituto Fazendinhando/CASACOR)

Even with the growing visibility of social architecture — and of Fazendinhando itself —, the institute's president states that the difficulty in obtaining resources is still a reality. "When we talk about renovations in precarious housing, there is no public call for proposals to raise funds within the area".

Participations in CASACOR and their repercussion

The impact of Ester Carro's work in Jardim Colombo led her to the largest architecture, design and landscaping show in the Americas: CASACOR. Her first participation took place in 2023, with the Espaço Motirõ, a 34 sq m project with a work hall, bathroom with laundry area, living room integrated with kitchen and bedroom, designed to portray peripheral living.

"The Espaço Motirõ opened up an opportunity to show another side of Ester, a more technical side. This is because, in the spaces where I work, the challenges are more complex. There is not only the creative limitation, but also the limitation of resources and space. And, at the same time, to show society what these dwellings are like. How they can be more comfortable. All of this while also bringing in ancestral and sustainable aspects", she states.

Ester Carro - Espaço Motirõ. Projeto da CASACOR São Paulo 2023. (André Mortatti/CASACOR)

In 2024, Ester signed the Casa do Wallece, the first housing project in CASACOR's history. With just over 10 sq m, the initiative was born from delivery worker Wallece Gonzaga de Souza's dream of having a shower and more privacy. The intervention went further: it resulted in a complete residence tailored to his needs.

"Wallece is an extraordinary person and we saw that, after the delivery of the house, other opportunities also began to open up for him, other trainings and courses. It was something that really moved me, I am very proud of this project".

Wallece Souza e Ester Carro (André Del Casalle /CASACOR)

Two years later, Ester comments with satisfaction about the effects of her participations. One of them lies in the partnerships built during the show, many of which remain active. Part of the value of CASACOR tickets is also donated annually to the Fazendinhando Institute, which receives materials removed from the projects after the dismantling of the event.

The other lies in her own professional maturation. "When you sign a project at CASACOR, your level of demand compared to other projects becomes much higher. As short as the time is, everything is delivered with an extremely high level of detail and quality at CASACOR. That was a school for me. This level of demand, in a good sense, I end up bringing today to all my projects".

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Transformation that goes beyond architecture

Featured on Forbes Under 30, winner of the Socio-Environmental Responsibility Award from the São Paulo City Council and named one of the 100 extraordinary women of Brazil by the book Rebel Girls, Ester Carro sees her recognitions as a way to expand the visibility of her work. The reach of architecture, in this case, is also in whom she inspires.

The professional recalls two episodes that translate this impact. "There was a child, around 7 or 8 years old, who saw me on the street and said: 'I saw you on Globo, I want to be there one day too'. When a person from the favela sees another person from the favela in these spaces, she automatically starts to become a reference too".

(Divulgação/CASACOR)

Another story involves a woman who was a victim of domestic violence. When fleeing the state where she lived, she chose Jardim Colombo as a refuge because she knew Ester's work in the community. Today, she has a degree in Pedagogy and works as one of the "farmers" of Fazendinhando.

"We are breaking a cycle of hardships, of violence, of thinking that everything that comes from the favelas is bad. In fact, criminality is a very small portion of everything that happens within the territory. It is not because we have less access to basic urban infrastructure, to opportunities, that we do not have a power behind us. These awards show another side of the favelas".

Next steps for Ester and Fazendinhando

Many of Ester Carro's dreams have already come true before she even turned 30. Even so, her next steps are already outlined. Among projects and partnerships she prefers to keep secret, one of the main goals is the construction of the Fazendinhando headquarters.

Projeto Fazendinhando que atua no Jardim Colombo, Zona Oeste de São Paulo / (Reprodução/CASACOR)

In addition, Ester intends to keep "mobilizing and bringing what we accomplish" to Brazil and Latin America, through consulting services and the expansion of the actions already developed by Fazendinhando. What was born from a local reality is gradually beginning to reach other scales.

traduzido por: OPENROUTER