Located in a man-made crater, the Favela de Providenca surrounds the top of the site, while the Central do Brasil (the main train station in Rio de Janeiro), the central bus depot and subway stop lie below it. The topography of Rio de Janerio contains many such craters, which we have marked as geological amputations.

The oldest slum in Rio de Janerio, the Favela de Providenca keeps expanding. In this particularly charged site—sitting in a man-made crater, bordered by favellas, and lacking in infrastructure—a hospital can act as an urban plug-in, filling the existing amenities gap to help foster a healthy, sustainable growth on an urban scale.

Though the Favela de Providenca holds an immense physical presence within the city, the authorities do not acknowledge it as a legal settlement. Inhabitants have  The community suffers from higher disease and mortality rates due to a lack of waste and  water management, sewage, sanitation, electricity, or even a lack of access and public space. We envision 'The Rio Super Hospital' as a plug-in that can fill such infrastructural deficiencies in the area.

Topological studies of the crater.

In this instance, the site is understood as an unrolled elevation rather than an urban ground.

The dramatic height of the crater suggests that gravity is a latent source of energy. Consequently, we began to understand how to the unrolled elevation could allow us to fill the amenity gap.

The hospital incorporates water and waste management systems, and provides access to rehabilitate the immediate urban context. A system of cores collects water from the site, and enters a process of remediation (beginning with sludge removal, followed by anaerobic digestion and bio filtration). After that, its uses vary from irrigation to mechanical services within the building. Also, methane gas, a by-product of the anaerobic digestion phase combined with organic waste (from the hospital and the favelas) generates electricity in a bio-gas facility at the bottom of the cliff, culminating in a closed-loop cycle.

Infrastructural Strategies.

Rendered View from the Upper Urban Strata/Favella Level.

View From Lower Urban Strata/Public Ground.

A design that can promote sustainable communal growth.

Model View.