Mapping is been  typically thought of merely as a means to catalog what is in a particular space but new forms of mapping have uncovered the potential for mapping to instead become a generator uncover what could become of a given space.(1) This agenda of sorts has always been hidden within the practice of mapping. This is due to the fact that mapping has always had an abstract nature; resulting in selection, “…omission, isolation, distance, and codification.”(1) What this ends up meaning is that through the mapping process certain things become evident without any conscious effort of actually doing so.

Moving from mere unconscious discovery to deliberately harnessing the potential in this newly discovered, though not technically new mode of representation offers an innovative look into a somewhat forgotten construct of many cities; the slums. The architecture firm MMBB Arquitetos has been researching new interventions and how they affect the emergence of a new social class living in the slums of the world’s most rapidly growing cities.

There are two projects in Sao Paulo highlighted in the reading Filling Voids, both having to do with water and sanitation in slums; one named Watery Voids the other Antonico Creek Urban Project.(3) The general rule here is that the solution to an urban problem in one area is more than likely found in another; this means looking at the big picture, the entire city. This process can be done through the use of critical mapping, in other words, mapping with intent to find discoveries.

The storm-water reclamation reservoirs setup by the Brazilian government to solve the flooding problem in Sao Paulo is the basis for the Watery Voids project. The idea proposed by MMBB is to “reconcile the metropolitan and the local scales of these interventions.” This project has set out to take advantage of resources at hand to generate communities. Most of the ideas put forth involve the integration of the reservoirs with the urban fabric in order to allow the community to interact with the water.(3) The second project in Sao Paulo, provides those living in favelas open outdoor space, essentially park space running parallel to an open run-off canal. Again, the intention here is to provide space for communities to blossom.

Other such projects revolved around combating both the social and physical spread of cities with large slums have taken place in India. One of these many projects beginning with a study which concludes that slums are consistently located along natural drainage paths.(2) It has become the general theme that the upgrading and integration of slums to the rest of the city is a difficult task, however, the only true way to accomplish such a difficult task is by proposing solutions which are mutually beneficial to both the slum and the larger extent of the city.(2) A networking project located in Indore sets out to create integrated infrastructure which for sewage and storm drainage, and fresh-water which follows the natural drainage paths the Khan and Saraswati Rivers. This particular project not only provides and removes water from the city as a whole but also provides the slum communities with an added sense of security (having personal bathing facilities and no longer being at risk of attack in a public bathing facility) and decrease the hardships which families in the area face day in and day out.(2)

These infrastructure building initiatives bolster the community and lead to an improved quality of life. These dramatic improvements though initiated by the government are then carried on by the community with vigor in other forms.

(1) James Corner: Agency of Mapping

(2) Cynthia Davidson: Slum Networking

(3) Franco de Mello: Filling Voids