MACh Architects and Connatural Build a Park-Territory to Help Córrego do Feijão Stay Rooted After the Dam Collapse

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This article covers topics related to Landscape Design, Architecture. In Córrego do Feijão, Brazil, a slatted lookout tower, brick halls and stone gardens give a community scarred by disaster a reason to remain.

In Córrego do Feijão, Brazil, a slatted lookout tower, brick halls and stone gardens give a community scarred by disaster a reason to remain.

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UNI Editorial published Blog under Landscape Design, Architecture on Oct 11, 2026

Some public space projects start with a brief about amenity. Território-Parque, or Territory-Park, starts with a harder question: how do you persuade people to stay in a place that has been badly damaged? Córrego do Feijão, a small rural community in the state of Minas Gerais, was the community most affected by the January 2019 dam collapse. Brazilian studio MACh Architects, led by Fernando Maculan and Mariza Machado Coelho, worked with Colombian practice Connatural, led by Edgar Mazo and Sebastián Mejía. Their brief was to rebuild the urban, architectural and landscape conditions that would let residents remain and reconnect with their origins and history.

The result does not read as a memorial, and it does not read as a masterplan imposed from outside. It reads as a set of modest, carefully made pieces placed into the existing village fabric: a slatted lookout tower, perforated brick pavilions, timber pergolas, stone benches, grass mounds and learning halls. For us, the interesting part is that restraint. The project treats repair as a spatial practice that can be built in increments, with materials the town already recognizes and a scale it can absorb.

Working Inside the Village, Not Beside It

Aerial view of a small town with red-tiled roofs, a curving road and a slatted tower among trees under scattered clouds

Elevated view of a village square with grassy mounds and terracotta-roofed buildings below forested green hills under a bright blue sky

Aerial view of a hillside town with terracotta roofs, a timber lattice tower among trees and forested mountains under scattered clouds

Aerial view of a street-side garden with a circular stone-paved pattern and grassy mounds among tiled-roof houses in low sun

Top-down view of a stone-paved garden with winding low walls and planting beds, circling the round tower roof beside a road

Aerial view of a curved timber pergola and stone-paved plaza beside grassy mounds planted with palms, hills rising behind

The aerials make the strategy clear. Red tile roofs, a curving road and forested hills set the frame, and the new interventions sit inside that frame rather than competing with it. There is no plaza scraped clean and no landmark building announcing a new era. The square, the street-side garden and the pergola all thread into gaps the town already had.

This matters for a community whose relationship to its territory has been disrupted. Continuity is the point. When you see the circular stone paving next to ordinary tiled houses, the new work reads as if the village had simply finished a sentence it started long ago.

A Tower That Lets You Read the Land

Cylindrical timber lookout tower with a spiral stair seen across a road, framed by a large spreading tree in late sun

Cylindrical weathered steel tower with vertical slats and climbing vines, reached by stone-edged steps beside tall grasses in late light

Spiral stair of rust-toned steel posts and vertical slats with climbing vines, dappled by evening sunlight

Top-down view of the circular stone paving and slatted ring around a bare tree, with grass mounds casting long shadows

Overhead close-up of concentric timber slats over irregular stone paving, with tree shadows falling across the pattern in raking light

The cylindrical lookout tower is the one vertical gesture, and it is a smart one. It is built from weathered steel posts and vertical slats wrapped around a spiral stair. Climbing vines already soften its edges, so it behaves less like an object and more like a trellis that happens to carry people upward.

From the top, residents can see the valley that has defined their lives. That is a quietly political act: it restores a vantage point over the territory. At ground level, concentric timber slats ring a bare tree over irregular stone. The tower's language returns to the ground as a pattern you can sit on and walk across.

Brick Lattice Halls for Eating Together

Brick lattice pavilion with pivoting wooden doors open, showing diners at long tables beneath a clerestory at blue dusk

Pivoting timber slat doors open beside a perforated terracotta brick wall, revealing diners seated at long tables inside

Dining hall with long timber tables and bentwood chairs opening through louvered doors to a tree-filled garden, a woman seated at right

Perforated red clay block wall glowing from within beside a timber lattice screen and a stepped path at dusk

Gabled pavilion with a timber lattice facade and exposed trusses lit from inside, framed by large trees at twilight

Interior market hall with wooden display tables, exposed brick walls and timber ceiling beams, daylight coming through windows and a rear doorway

The communal dining pavilion is where the project's social ambition becomes visible. Perforated terracotta brick walls and pivoting timber slat doors swing open to the garden. The long tables and bentwood chairs inside then become an extension of the public realm. At dusk, the lattice glows from within and turns the building into a lantern for the street.

The market hall uses the same palette of exposed brick and timber beams, but with a working character. These are not precious interiors. They are rooms designed for routine: selling, cooking and gathering. Routine is exactly what a displaced or grieving community needs to rebuild.

Screens, Pergolas and Filtered Shade

Perforated brick screen wall beside a timber pergola, with a tall tree casting dappled shade over a stone-edged planting bed

Freestanding perforated brick screen wall with diagonal tree shadow cast across it beneath a large canopy and scattered clouds

Timber pergola on slim steel posts extending toward a perforated brick facade, framed by a large tree in late sunlight

Wooden benches and tables in striped pergola shadow in front of a brick lattice wall, tropical leaves crowding the foreground

Narrow passage between a rammed earth wall and a dark steel-clad wall, with purple flowering plants in the foreground

Rust-colored steel garage door beneath a stone-banded beam with agave plants and a railing above, under blue sky

Much of the project's atmosphere comes from layered thresholds. Freestanding brick screens catch diagonal tree shadows. Timber pergolas on slim steel posts throw striped shade across benches. A narrow passage pairs a rammed earth wall with dark steel cladding. Each element filters light and view without closing anything off.

The material vocabulary of wood, steel, brick, earth and stone stays tightly controlled. That discipline keeps the separate pieces legible as a single project, even when they are scattered across different plots. Even the service elements, such as a rust-coloured steel garage door under a stone-banded beam, are handled with the same care as the pavilions.

Rooms for Learning and Deliberation

Covered hall with lime-green chairs facing a stepped stone amphitheater, two people sitting on the terraces under a gridded timber ceiling

Rows of lime green chairs in a hall with a coffered timber ceiling, track lights and a projector

Lecture room with rows of green chairs under a coffered concrete ceiling and track lights, facing a screened garden wall

Curved rows of green chairs in a hall with rust-toned steel panels, a rubble stone wall and a gridded concrete ceiling

Open-sided hall with rows of green chairs beneath a stone-faced beam and a green roof planted with agave under blue sky

Computer desks with lime green chairs beside a timber-framed glass wall overlooking a planted courtyard and tree trunks

The halls with lime green chairs, coffered ceilings, projectors and computer desks hint at a programme beyond leisure. These are spaces for training, meetings and the slow work of collective decision-making. One covered hall faces a stepped stone amphitheatre, and an open-sided version sits under a green roof planted with agave.

We like that these rooms keep looking outward. Glass walls frame planted courtyards, and screened garden walls replace blank partitions. Rubble stone surfaces sit beside rust-toned steel panels. Learning here happens in visual contact with the landscape the community is trying to reclaim.

Ground You Can Sit On, Play On and Climb

Curved stone bench wrapping a tree trunk in a paved plaza with grass joints, as two people walk toward the setting sun

Curved stone benches and irregular flagstone paving set in grass, with a dog walking through low sun filtering through trees

Children running across lawn toward grassy mounds and a timber pergola under a cloudy sky

Low view of grass mounds, a timber swing frame and log play structure in afternoon sun

Wide stone steps with planter blocks, rubble retaining walls and a metal handrail beneath tall trees and an overcast sky

Drone view of a flagstone-paved rooftop with grass joints, a planted bed and stepped paths beside tree canopy

The landscape work, developed with FLP Paisagismo, is resolutely tactile. Curved stone benches wrap tree trunks. Flagstones sit in grass joints that let water and growth through. Grass mounds give children something to run up and roll down, and a log play structure and timber swing frame make play part of the civic programme rather than an afterthought.

Wide stone steps with rubble retaining walls handle the hillside's level changes without heavy engineering. Photographs of a dog wandering across the paving and children sprinting toward the pergola are telling. These spaces are already being used the way village ground should be: casually, daily, by everyone.

Plans and Drawings

Axonometric drawing of a sloping site with a planted central garden, flowering trees, scattered buildings and a long rectangular structure

Aerial axonometric view of a low courtyard building with planted roof gardens set in dense hillside vegetation beside a paved road

Axonometric drawing of a park running through a hillside neighborhood, with flowering trees, palms and a circular pavilion among low houses

Site plan drawing of a walled garden court with rectangular planting beds, paved paths and a small glass pavilion at one corner

Axonometric drawing of a walled garden terrace with raised beds beside a pond park, palms and a flowering pink tree

Exploded axonometric drawing of a terraced garden courtyard with stone walls, red panels and a planted roof lifted above

Site plan drawing of curving freestanding walls scattered across a wedge-shaped plot with tree canopies, circular pools and palms

Site plan drawing of a looping path across a stippled hillside with tree canopies, a cluster of small structures and a long linear wall

Site plan drawing of a long curving park strip with circular planting beds, a ringed pavilion and scattered tree canopies

Aerial site plan rendering of circular pools, stone paths and a long linear walkway within dense forest canopy beside a road

Oblique aerial view of round pools, a tiered amphitheatre and curving stone paths among palms and dense tropical trees

Aerial collage of a forested mountain slope with circular pavilions, winding paths and low cloud drifting over the ridge

Axonometric drawing of a wooded garden with pink flowering trees, palms, winding water channels and a small arched bridge with figures

Axonometric drawing of an organic-shaped pool with contour lines, bathers, standing families and palms among dense foliage

Axonometric drawing of a pool with stone-framed edges, swimmers in the water and surrounding tropical planting with dashed contour lines

Section drawing of a rippled pool floor with swimmers, planted stone islands and tall palms rising behind

Axonometric cutaway drawing of a circular pool with swimmers, a sectioned stone wall and a shallow ripple pool beyond

Section drawing through a glazed pavilion, a wave-bottomed pool and tiered seating, with palms and distant hills behind

Exploded axonometric drawing of a curved-wall bathhouse with shower stalls, stone-clad ends and palms, with the roof lifted above

Exploded axonometric drawing lifting timber roof frames above small courtyard buildings, curved stone benches and palms, with a detail circle of the wall claddi

Three-stage axonometric sequence showing stone basins and stepped mounds, then filled with water, then surrounded by dense tropical trees

Section drawing down a sloping hillside showing a pool, a pavilion and stepped seating among palms with a valley view beyond

Aerial view of a rectangular elevated boardwalk with railings enclosing yellow-flowering trees, with small figures walking through the hillside forest

Rendered aerial view of a steel viewing platform on a forested hillside with palms, a red gravel path and walking figures

Rendered aerial view of a terraced plaza and circular palm garden among tiled roofs, with a red flowering tree in the foreground

The drawing set reaches well beyond what the photographs show. It includes walled garden courts, a looping hillside path, circular pools with rippled floors, a curved-wall bathhouse, tiered seating, elevated boardwalks and a steel viewing platform in the forest. Read together, the drawings describe a territorial framework, a network of places spread across slopes and valleys rather than a single park.

The three-stage axonometric is especially revealing. Stone basins and mounds appear first, then fill with water, then disappear under dense tropical planting. It frames the architecture as a starting condition that ecology will take over, which is a fitting attitude for a landscape that needs time to recover.

Why This Project Matters

Post-disaster architecture often swings between two failures: temporary shelter that never becomes permanent, or monuments that freeze a community in its worst moment. Território-Parque avoids both. It invests in ordinary civic infrastructure, such as places to eat, learn, gather, play and look out over the land, and it builds them with enough material quality to signal that this place has a future.

The broader lesson is about scale and authorship. MACh Architects and Connatural worked with a wide team, including Lire Arquitetura e Restauração on restoration, Inovativo Soluções Sustentáveis on sanitation and Ataíea Lighting Design on lighting. Together they produced something that feels incremental and owned rather than delivered. If you are designing for communities under strain, this is a model worth studying: small pieces, a disciplined palette and a framework the landscape can grow into.

Territory-Park (Território-Parque) by MACh Architects and Connatural, Córrego do Feijão, Brazil, 2019. Photography by Leonardo Finotti.

About the Studio

MACh Architects

Connatural

Official website of Connatural, one of the studios behind this project.

ignant.com

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