CIEPS: Rio de Janeiro

So for the past few weeks, when I am traveling around the citie..in various forms of transportation I have noticed these odd buildings that I thought didn't really fit with the rest of the landscape of Rio. They were built with a very modern design and consistently were full of bright PoPpy colors. While I was away this weekend I started drawing some of them in my sketchbook and upon my return to Rio, focused on spotting some out the window of my bus so I could take a few reference photos. I then spoke to my cousin Nalita about it this evening and was told their history which I found rather interesting and decided to share it with you!

FYI: The pictures below I found on the internet with the expection of the last one..I took that this afternoon.





Blog about schools (em portugues)

Taken from the book: Effective Schools in Developing Countries By Henry M. Levin, Marlaine E. Lockheed

During the first democratically elected State administration of Rio de Janeiro from 1982-86, the Integrated Centers of Public Education (CIEPS) were created to bring about much needed change in public elementary education. The project was devised and made possible by Darcy Ribeiro as well as with the help of the Governor Leonel Brizola. These new elementary public schools were built throughout the state and the capital of Rio de Janeiro and were specifically aimed at enrolling economically disadvantaged children. They were identifiable by their standardized architecture of prefabricated cement modules, conceived by Niemeyer, the famous Brazilian architecture who conceived the capital, Brasilia, as well as their strategic and visible location along freeways, highways, in the middle of city squares or in elevated positions such as mountainsides.

Large, visible, and distinctive in construction, the CIEP schools immediately became widely popular but also the target of much criticism. Their construction exhausted the education budget of the State. The project was intended to built new facilities as well as renovated and improve older schools but because the budget was blown, only construction of new facilities was full filled.

Here is the rest if you care to read...Google Books