Care Centers for Children and Adolescents

typological investigations

Abstract

This article examines the production of the educational complexes of the Centros de Atenção
Integral à Criança e ao Adolescente (Centers for Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Care) in
Brazil, whose pilot project was conceived by a team led by architect João Filgueiras Lima, known
as Lelé. The objective is to investigate problems with the remaining centers of this program, which
achieved only 7% of the initial goal of a total of 5,000 units. The chosen approach is justified, a
priori, for the need to recognize and incorporate this collection built among the management priorities of government agencies, given that they face constant complications in the conservation of buildings. The analysis methodology initially involves gathering and systematizing data on the program and the pilot project of the Centers for Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Care. Subsequently, the study examines the program’s
developments through case studies that constitute a qualified sample of executed projects. Finally, these cases are compared to the conceptual framework established in the original project. As a result of these analyses, the study presents an explanation of typological and design variations across three research scales, reflecting key aspects of the investigation: the site (implementation), the building (form), and the component (materiality). In short, the lack of rigor in site selection and compliance with implementation requirements proved to be the primary obstacle to the proper functioning of these complexes. Additionally, these issues are reflected at the building and component scales, incorporating inconsistencies resulting from alternative materialities and solutions that were not initially anticipated.