Doce_SSA, Pollinating Urban Meliponary Network in the city of Salvador

Location: Salvador – Bahia – Brazil – Global South – Planet

To pollinate architecture, to promote biodiversity, for a better urban planet.

In a vital and sometimes hidden role, bees maintain terrestrial ecosystems through pollination, enabling the recovery of native flora and accounting for about 75% of food crops in the world, ensuring quality and quantity for agricultural economy. Nevertheless, bee population decrease, caused mostly by anthropic actions to reduce their natural habitat, is a global issue.

Taking advantage of a strong local context of urban resilience, of the activism of several agents and the expansion of Meliponiculture, the enterprise of rational keeping of Native “Stingless” Bees, Doce_Ssa was born as an “unsolicited” architecture, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in an intense participatory transdisciplinary process, evolving towards the Municipality’s interest. Meliponiculture, which is part of traditional communities’ cultural and subsistence practices, in addition to providing honey and NSB by-products, safeguarding endangered species and contributing to sustainable agriculture, also plays a strong role in the recovery of the Atlantic Rain Forest biome, a global biodiversity hotspot. Although small and fragmented, the aforementioned biome is where 100% of Salvador’s territory is located and where 72% of the Brazilian population lives.

In architectural context, it was the confrontation with the Italian design project Honey Factory that revealed urban meliponiculture, in place of urban apiculture, as a protagonist in Brazilian reality. Our native bees can exist in the urban area, once they are species with stunted stings, therefore, unable to harm humans.

As a pilot action of coordinated design, a network of pollinating urban meliponaries is proposed for the city of Salvador, in order to house and promote the multiplication of NSB colonies. It involves mobilization architecture and ephemeral architecture, or any other ones which may be able to contribute to the network construction, thus exercising different scales. The basic architectural project, supported by a principle of urban acupuncture, comprises microarchitectures strategically linked to local programs – urban parks, school and community vegetable-gardens and orchards, and Candomblé “Terreiros” (afro-Brazilian worship terrain) – becoming centers of pollination and environmental education. Urban green spaces and areas for social engagement are articulated for this new mission, aligned with Municipality actions of ecological landscaping and implantation of urban gardens network, enhancing both the project and the range of action and flight of the main bee species adopted for it, the Melipona Scutellaris, which is up to 3-4km. In addition, there is a proposed Matrix Meliponary in the main urban park of the city, where a small “pavilion” was temporary built as exhibition of this project and was presented to the general public; a teaser of the macroarchitecture that manages the network.

Possibilities for architecture do not end here. A new field of action for designs at the service of biodiversity is presented, envisioning public policies aimed at pollination and pollinators in a broader sense, anchored to socio-environmental preservation. In a provocative inversion of the city – architecture – object relationship, Doce_SSA inspires a promising low-cost, high-impact design strategy, based on nature, to mitigate the climate emergency and the need for cities to adapt, while bringing people closer to these extraordinary social insects.

Thinking locally, thinking globally. More bees, more green spaces, more healthy food, more pleasant, livable, biophilic and resilient cities for people and biodiversity.

URBAN MELIPONARIES

WHAT ARE THEY?

They are microarchitectures for urban meliponiculture.

They accommodate the precious Native Stingless Bee hives (NSB or Meliponines) installed in rational breeding boxes which reproduce the physiological conditions of the nests found in nature, facilitating their handling (induced multiplication of colonies and extraction of products).

WHAT ARE THEY FOR?

Support for a lively and conscious environmental EDUCATION, and for POLLINATION of urban vegetable-gardens and orchards (qualification of cultivation), and the Atlantic Rain Forest biome (restoration and plant conservation).

Reduction of local-global deficit of pollinators. Promotion of biodiversity.

Exchange of direct and indirect ecosystem benefits generated by NSB, of environmental, social, cultural and economic scope.

WHO THEY ADRESS?

Pilot project proposed to the Department of Innovation, Sustainability and Resilience – City Council, envisioning the “Salvador Capital da Mata Atlântica” Program.

Agents “guardians of bees” – local communities, members of Meliponiculture Cooperatives, students and researchers.

Suppliers of NSB colonies for the implementation phase of the project – registered local meliponaries (production chain promotion).

WHICH TYPES?

As a result of a non-linear design process, there are 2 types seeking to align the project’s objectives with the available local resources and with the sustainable criteria of meliponiculture practice. They keep the image of the traditional, rural technique, adapted to the urban environment. They can coexist.

MICROARCHITECTURE 01 – suggested for urban parks, with anti-theft device, given the NSB colony added value. It explores playful – educational aspects in its ensemble, with attraction points providing the experience of contemplating the important and fantastic NSB universe. In detail, the indigenous painting applied, by a visual artist, to the wood supports proposes indigenous cultural heritage rescue when dealing with the bees.

MICROARCHITECTURE 02 – already conceived as a Municipality demand for vegetable-garden dynamics and with a pre-existent security system in these areas. Its design reflects the intrinsic ecologic relationship NSB vs. flora, and implantation logic variables (the induced growth of the colonies in the intended management schedule, the progression level of community’s participation, and budget availability).

HOW? A first step towards the network…

PHASE 01

MICROARCHITECTURE PROGRESSIVE-EVALUATIVE IMPLEMENTATION (TRANSDISCIPLINARITY)

DIAGNOSIS – selection of sites based on the list of vegetable-gardens already implanted by the Municipality.

CRITERIA

Distance (3-4km) from polluting sources, factories, waste stations, etc.;
Close to natural areas with pre-existing flora (meliponous pasture) and/or growing area due to planting actions, also considering the connectivity of green areas and the range of action and flight of the main NSB species adopted (3-4km);
Good level of social cohesion in communities and management.

HANDLING WORKSHOPS FOR GUARDIANS – MICROARCHITECTURE INSTALLATION 01

CONTINUOUS EVALUATION – MICROARCHITECTURES PROGRESSIVE IMPLEMENTATION 02 (goal: 5 to 100 colonies – seasonal spring)

COLONIES DIVISION FOR OTHER MELIPONARIES INSTALLATION – PROJECT’S MULTIPLICATION PATENT

PHASE 02

HONEY EXTRACTION AND BY-PRODUCTS OF NSB (diversified and inclusive economy)

OTHER PROGRAMMATIC POSSIBILITIES FOR ARCHITECTURE

MOBILE EXTRACTION UNITS

COLLECTIVE BENEFIT WAREHOUSES

acknowledgments: As collaborators, we count on the special contribution of more than 60 volunteers, suppliers and specialists from different areas converging on AU, to list: Carla Teixeira, Claudia Carapiá, Roberto Soares, Wilza Santana (organização); Lorena Dantas e Marilia Simões (mídias sociais e imprensa), Arq. Ludmila Gomes, Arq. Matheus Rocha, Arq. Raffaela Grossi, Estag. Arq. Marina Novais (arquitetura); Eng. Robson Racaes – Racaes engenharia (consultoria estrutural); Andrade (marceneiro); Antônio Silva (construtor); Denilson Santos (construtor); Ailton Silva (soldador); Eliseu Anjos (eletricista); Karleonio Santos (pintor); Sr. Severo (carpinteiro); Matheus Trindade (biólogo); Carola Lima (biólogo); Pedro Viana (meliponicultor e zootecnista); Ricardo Designer (design camisas); Kel Konduru (artista plástica); Antônio Castro (fotógrafo); Eber Paz (fotógrafo); Fabricio Lemos (chef gastronomia – Restaurante Origem / Instituto Ori); Dr. Marcio Campos – FAUFBA; Prof. Dra. Favizia Freitas de Oliveira – Laboratório de Bionomia Biogeografia e Sistemática de Insetos – BIOSIS / IBIO /UFBA e graduandos do referido curso (oficinas); graduandos do curso de zootecnia da UFBA, UNIJORGE e Universidade Católica; Prof. Dr.Rogério Alves – IFBaiano (oficinas); Grupo Curiatã (músicos); Cooperativa dos Criadores de Abelhas do Brasil – COOPECAB (Caixas / colônias produtos abelhas); Aceiro (Artefatos metálicos colmeia Doce SSA); Corte Certo (Corte arte chapa colmeia Doce SSA); Gocortes (Moldes corte CNC e comunicação visual); Matiz Tintas e Futura Tintas (Tintas); Petrochem (Chapas e telhas de Policarbonato); Rita Souza Paisagismo e Arte (Paisagismo); Chef Fit Cozinha Saudável (Alimentação saudável); Venturoli (Peças de madeira eucalipto); Amô Jardinaria(Paisagismo); Apoio ambiental (recicláveis).

awards and recognition:

projeto selecionado via edital público Festival Virada Sustentável Salvador 2018

projeto exposto no 21° Congresso Brasileiro de Arquitetos 2019

prêmio Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil departamento Bahia, categoria projeto Salvador , 2019

projeto exposto no evento Circuito Urbano, 2020, UN Habitat

projeto exposto no 27° Congresso Mundial de Arquitetos – UIA 2021 RIO

projeto selecionado ODS 15 – 1º Guia IAB para a Agenda 2030

photos: Carol Sylos / Eber Paz / 360 arquitetura

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