TheIAPIofDelCastilho

There isn't a resident of Del Castilho or Inhaúma, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, who doesn't know where the Conjunto Habitacional do Instituto de Aposentadorias e Pensões dos Industriários, or simply the IAPI, is located. The set of buildings has been a distinctive landmark of the neighborhood since its construction, between the years 1940 and 1950.

The construction of the IAPI was part of a national public housing policy. This was a period in which state actions were geared toward the country's industrial development, heavily promoted in Rio's suburbs — a region that had ample cheap plots of land to accommodate factories, and boasted electric power distribution and an extensive railway network. The Institute of Retirement and Pensions for Industrial Workers (IAPI) began financing the construction of housing complexes in industrial regions, aiming to rent out their housing units to the workers who would come to work in those factories.

In the field of architecture and urban planning, the IAPI housing complexes stand out for their spatial and constructive quality. The housing format and architectural design of these complexes have an innovative character, such as the serial deployment of ribbon-style buildings, the generous provision of open spaces between buildings, as well as the striking presence of the water tower, making the IAPIs important landmarks in the suburban landscape.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a residential neighborhood. On the left, there is a large apartment building with many windows. In the center, a strip of grass separates the buildings. On the right, there is another partially visible building. In front of the buildings, several people are walking or gathered in groups. A flag with a symbol hangs from a pole in the distance.

The Del Castilho IAPI housing complex has 31 residential blocks of 4 floors each — housing 1072 residential units and a few commercial establishments — and sits on the border with the neighborhood of Inhaúma. The division between the parts of the complex used to be marked by the Faria River, located along the neighborhoods' borders, and is now reinforced by the presence, along the same dividing line, of the Linha Amarela. This split into two parts gave the complex specific traits that translated into distinct dynamics on each side.

Walking through Del Castilho and Inhaúma means noticing the traces of the old industrial occupation found in the railway suburbs of the Zona Norte carioca, of which IAPI is part. Historically, given a layout strongly defined by small residential buildings, single-family houses, and vilas, sociability was concentrated in the street. Streets filled with children playing, skies taken over by kites, and chairs placed on the sidewalks in front of houses as an extension of the backyards are part of the suburbs' collective imagination. Today, that sociability can be found in the carnival bloco (Fuzuê), which parades through the IAPI complex in Del Castilho, in the children playing in its sports courts, in the fair held every Sunday, and in the gatherings that take place in backyards and on the ground floors of buildings.

The paths, buildings, residents, and spaces of the Del Castilho IAPI housing complex evoke a neighborhood-rooted memory while also representing an urban cultural heritage for Brazilian architecture. Valuing and preserving the complex offers the chance to make visible and appreciate one of the many facets of the suburban landscape and its relationships with, and influence on, local sociability.

Image description: This is an aerial photograph of an urban area. The image shows a densely populated city with several residential and commercial buildings. On the left side, there is a large complex of buildings with red roofs. In the center, there is an open area with trees and vegetation. On the right, there are more residential and commercial buildings, including a tall building with a blue roof. In the background, there is a road cutting through the city.