The project emerged as a response to the challenges being faced by the community of Santos due to the current pandemic:social isolation and struggling local businesses.
It proposed an appropriation of the urban space to create a safe meeting place for the community. The church square became living room, local market, restaurant. A stage for a new way of living, open to all generations, with a strong grounding in social collective responsibility.
The new neighbourhood centre is the ground for social, cultural, economic and educational agendas. All these will continue to be delivered through interventions that tackle isolation, engage with the arts, encourage local investment, raise awareness of global issues, and promote a sense of collectivism.
Just as Santos Collective has proved that reclaiming public space with socially motivated programs has the potential to revitalise a community, we aim to expand this idea to create a network of communities which will support each other