#3 Pedregulho, a place to know better by Blenda Araujo

The Residential Complex Prefeito Mendes de Moraes, known as Pedregulho, was designed by Affonso Eduardo Reidy in 1947. The use today is made primarily by the local community but at the time it was built for civil servants in Rio de Janeiro before the change of the Federal District to Brasília.

The aesthetics and principles defended by Le Corbusier are present in the Pedregulho project, beware of the technologies applied in construction, economy of means used and functional concerns closely related to formal solutions: control of light and ventilation and ease of movement.

The housing development has residential blocks and common services areas: kindergarten, kindergarten, nursery, primary school, market, laundry, health center, sports courts, gyms, swimming pool, changing rooms and business center. On architectural design of the complex, with 328 units, each work is defined by a simple volume, integrated into a wider set, where the form indicates the difference of functions: the parallelepiped is intended for residential buildings; the trapezoidal Prism to public buildings; and the vaults at sports constructions. The intention to maintain the view of Guanabara Bay for all apartments leads to design a large construction on pilotis, which dribbles the natural slope of the area by the use of runways, and an avenue back on top of the terrain, resources that do not require elevators. The pilotis of variables heights is another original solution  employed in the light of the irregularities of the ground. The key piece of the entire Complex is the large building built on top of curve plant, which follows the natural conditions of the terrain.

The entire Pedregulho brings in its conception the urban precepts of CIAM, revealing of finished form the relationship between social housing, modernization, popular education and the transformation of society, goals that nowadays are brought into question. Unfortunately the area does not receive enough resource to its maintenance, resulting in degradation and interventions that are out of place in the original project.