PARQUE PAVUNA PAVES WAY TO COMMUNITY FUN

Text description provided by the architects.
The Parque Pavuna is located in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, at the top of the Complexo do Chapadão. In a neighborhood marked by one of the city's lowest social development indices, the park was designed to become an open and high-quality urban facility, a green and inclusive gathering space.

The park accommodates sports, leisure and learning facilities, such as soccer, volleyball and basketball courts, a skate park, a children's playground, an outdoor gym for the elderly, food kiosks and a Nave do Conhecimento unit— a digital inclusion and creativity center managed by the municipality.

To optimise the use of the land, the project takes advantage of the existing sloping terrain, distributing the program across different plateaus and overcoming level differences with the creation of stairs, bleachers and ramps. The new structures integrate with the planting of native shrub and tree species from the Mata Atlântica biome, while also preserving existing vegetation in landscaped areas, promoting rainwater infiltration and aiding thermal comfort.

The most striking feature of the project is the water plaza, dominated by a 22-meter-high sculpture evoking mangrove roots, from which water jets flow during the day and beams of light emerge at night. The plaza references the laje shower, a common element in local homes, reinterpreting and transferring it from the domestic sphere to public space. Adjacent to the water feature, sand-covered areas recreate a beach-like atmosphere, a beloved environment for cariocas, offering a playful space that complements children's bathing activities.

The park’s paved sections were treated as an additional design layer. In a simple solution that introduced dynamism to pathways and social areas, the gray concrete received painted graphic elements in colors inspired by the surroundings, such as the terracotta of exposed bricks and the blue of water tanks commonly found in Rio’s suburban homes.