In Brazil in the early 1980s, rocketing urban populations and slim public funding meant schools were overcrowded and ill-equipped to educate huge numbers of children. Wherever You Find People is a book that we compiled and edited to tell the unusual story about a radical school building project that emerged to meet these demands.
The Integrated Centres of Public Education (CIEP) were conceived in Rio de Janeiro by the world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer, politician Darcy Ribeiro and state governor Leonel Brizola. This relatively-unstudied public architecture initiative relied on a standardised system of concrete parts to create attractive, spacious schools that could be constructed quickly and economically. Over 500 were built and their design became an icon of Brazilian architecture.
Wherever You Find People brings together essays, interviews and previously-unpublished photographs and drawings to document and analyse this socially-driven project. We hope it provides some valuable lessons for modern cities coping with mass urbanisation.
A review of the book by Domus can be found here.
