Greening Rio's favelas one roof at a time

Cassiano’s inspiration for Green Roof Favela stems from models implemented in European countries such as Germany, where the benefits of green roofs are widely recognized. Indeed, drawing inspiration from the Scandinavian sod roof model dating back to the Middle Ages, Germany has been a pioneer of green roof technologies since the 1950s in an effort to mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization.

Cassiano sought to reproduce a similar model in Parque Arará with vegetation adapted to Brazil’s tropical climate—“plants that resist heat.” The research and development phase was important: Cassiano experimented with various techniques to achieve the best possible results.The social, environmental, and economic benefits to green roofs are numerous, from providing thermal protection and improving air quality to mitigating stormwater runoff pollution and saving costs for both residents and cities.

Green Roof Favela, which does not receive any funding, guides residents in the process of creating green roofs—from acquiring materials to building the roof. In addition, one of the initiative’s main activities is educating children in the community about the importance of respecting plants, and more broadly, the environment. “Most children in the favela have no interaction with the forest and do not respect it… It’s a culture of destruction. We must educate them, slowly,” Cassiano describes.

More generally, “In the favela, there are two colors [red and gray]. There are studies on color that say that red [signifies] passion, force, tension, explosion. But there is also gray—more melancholic, sad, depressing… The favela is this: samba and love, but also sadness because it is poor. The color green will reduce violence. When we’re close to green space, we feel good. Favelas need this.”