The
Bradesco Foundation Farm School of Canuanã, located on the banks of the Javaés River, in the municipality of Formoso do Araguaia, in
Tocantins, was the winner of the
Building of the Year 2025, the 16th edition of the award given by the
ArchDaily portal, which recognizes the excellence of the space and its positive social impact. The
Vila dos Funcionários, designed by the offices
Rosenbaum and Terra e Tuma Arquitetos Associados, was the reason for winning the award in the
Housing category, which had over four thousand entries. With this achievement, the school was the only Brazilian to win the award among the
six other competitors nominated in different categories.
Founded in 1973, the institution offers
free education from elementary to technical education, where around
800 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 live and study annually. The space was designed due to the large rural distances in the region to access schools.
Inside the Vila dos Funcionários
The residences of the Vila dos Funcionários were developed to
accommodate part of the 270 collaborators from the areas of pedagogy, nutrition, health, and administration who live and work on the farm. The housing complex consists of
32 housing units, in three different typologies, with one, two, and three bedrooms, catering to both singles and families. Between the houses, layouts and squares were conceived that prioritize pedestrian and bicycle circulation among the units, with car flow directed around the village. A parking area for cars and boats was also proposed.
The residences were planned in such a way as to generate
thermal comfort from the wind and molded soil-cement bricks, as well as to ensure
privacy for the location of the windows. The materials and strategies used meet the
local climatic conditions, such as heat throughout the year, intense exposure to sunlight, winds carrying dust, and torrential rains.
The
ventilated sill is a bioclimatic alternative with high energy efficiency, which enables wind circulation without compromising the entry of light or the safety of the projects. Although still little explored today, this technology was present in several architectural projects from the 1960s, especially in cities in the Northeast.
In
over 73,000 m² of constructed areas, the structure of the institution includes school buildings, leisure areas, sports courts, swimming pools, dining areas, laundry, library, and dance and music rooms.
International recognitions of the Canuanã school
In 2018, the student residences of Canuanã received the
RIBA International Prize, awarded by the
Royal Institute of British Architects, which also highlighted the building as an example of excellence in architectural design with ambition and significant social impact.
