Quilombo da Gamboa Library Pavilion: Community by Built Cultural Architecture in Rio de Janeiro

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This article covers topics related to Cultural Architecture, Community-Driven Architecture, Architecture. Community-built library pavilion in Rio’s Quilombo da Gamboa, using low-cost materials and participatory workshops to empower residents, especially women, through architecture.

Community-built library pavilion in Rio’s Quilombo da Gamboa, using low-cost materials and participatory workshops to empower residents, especially women, through architecture.

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The Quilombo da Gamboa Library Pavilion in Rio de Janeiro stands as a powerful example of socially engaged design, community empowerment, and participatory construction. Developed by Moradia Comum [Lanchonete <> Lanchonete] — led by architects Amanda Arcuri, Danilo Filgueiras, and Gabriel Martucci — this 50-square-meter pavilion redefines what architecture can represent in the context of urban resilience, cultural identity, and collective learning.

Completed in 2023, the project is located in Gamboa, a historic neighborhood in the region known as Little Africa, home to rich Afro-Brazilian heritage and self-organized housing communities. The initiative forms part of the Common Housing Project – Phase 1: Ground, funded by the Technical Assistance for Social Interest Housing Program (ATHIS/CAU-RJ), aiming to expand democratic access to architectural knowledge and tools.

Community-Driven Architecture and Cultural Engagement

Rather than a conventional architectural commission, the library pavilion was realized through construction workshops designed as an experimental building site. These workshops brought together residents — particularly women from local occupations — to collaboratively build a shared cultural hub serving the Quilombo da Gamboa community.

The pavilion strengthens an already active space where public cultural events, gatherings, informal learning, and family activities take place. Through open dialogue, collective discussion, and shared design sessions, the architectural concept evolved from the community’s needs, traditions, and spatial experience. This participatory method ensured that the final structure honors the daily life, memory, and cultural autonomy of the Quilombo.

Material Experimentation and Empowerment Through Building Knowledge

A key goal of the project was material experimentation to diversify and democratize construction knowledge among self-building residents in Rio de Janeiro's central occupation areas. Workshops provided hands-on experience using: