I2i Green Roof Project 3 Bio

Green Roof Project – Instituto Dois Irmãos_ Rocinha_ Rio de Janeiro_ Brazil

Biography

My name is Sol Undurraga. I am an architect and illustrator from Chile. I have worked in Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso, and Mexco City, in architectural offices and magazine editorials. Additionally I have worked as a research assistant at the Universidad Diego Portales and as a teaching assistant in illustration classes. Likewise I have worked in community-based projects in Santiago and Mexico City. After many years of working and studying in Chile and Mexico I decided to come to Rio de Janeiro to dedicate myself to another community project, to carry out the design and construction of a green roof for i2i's building. On my second day in Rio I came to live in Rocinha where i2i is based. I do not sleep in Rocinha. It's a place where something different happens every minute within this dense environment without much vegetation, many children and a harsh reality unfolding. After just a few days of living here I have gotten to know the community and the lives that play out in these streets and alleys. It is a fundamentally human place, yet brimming with anger and frustration at the same time. After a few weeks of adjustment, my ideas for the favela have grown much more than what I had originally planned. One of these ideas is to begin construction of a garden on i2i's roof. The objective of this project is to inhabit the space in the most pleasant way possible while defining the space as an area for native vegetation and for i2i's recreational activities. In the future, the space will be used to screen films and hold lectures and discussions. We hope this project of a garden on the foundation's roof will become a prototype for the community, that one day Rocinha's rooftops will give back a portion of the vegetation that once existed in this place.