Urban Platform for the Indigenous

CANARANA, MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL FALL 2021 | Prof. Anna Dietzsch | In collaboration with Maddie August Many Indigenous people in the Xingu region of Brazil utilize the city of Canarana for economic, government, retail, and health services, but sufficient accommodations are scarce and Indigenous people are often discriminated against and exploited by urban establishments. The design aims to improve the relationship between the Indigenous people and the city, creating resources for the Indigenous and developing a symbiotic platform of exchange. It is envisioned that temporary accommodations, a synergetic marketplace, and an education healing center designed to share Indigenous homeopathic expertise can have a transformative impact for the Indigenous people of Xingu and the community of Canarana, Brazil.

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Site plan | Canarana, MT, Brazil

plan | programs

Event Space

Education Center

Fair Trade Market

Shamanic Healing Space

Crafting Space

research

CELESTIAL AXES & ACCESS

PUBLIC & PRIVATE SPHERES

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION

YANOMAMI COMMUNITY (DENNISON BERWICK/SURVIVAL)

YALAWAPITI VILLAGE (ENRICO MARONE)

Schematic sketches based on indigenous settlement formations

Settlement diagram for Yawalapiti tribe of the upper Xingu (source: Cristina Sa), showing the gradient of public to private living spheres.

Indigenous Amazonian villages build with sticks, woven palm fronds, and earth; applied to align with Indigenous values.

The proposed structure is based on the process of creating rammed earth. Incremental double wooden columns act as a scaffold, which can be filled or left open to define the public and private spheres within the complex.

site analysis