In 1997 14 year old Cirlan Souza de Oliveira moved with his family from the Brazilian countryside to Vila Pereira da Silva, a small community above Rio’s Laranjeiras neighborhood. He had never been to the city and was struck by the geography of the city and the contrast between the favela and the asfalto (the formal city with public services below).
Cirlan began building a reproduction of the favela in his backyard with bricks and paint left over from his father’s construction work and soon neighbourhood kids joined in. Within this miniature urban world of Morrinho ("little hill"), participants act out a role-playing game with the numerous people made from Lego that inhabit the model, recreating life in Rio's favelas. The model grew to 320m² and has been internationally recognized by curators and critics as a legitimate expression of contemporary art.
Video below by Robbie De Clercq:
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