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Check out these cheerful candy-colored buildings! Murals ^[5] are a fantastic way to sugar-coat concrete and brighten up otherwise drab buildings. Artists Haas and Hahn ^[6] have adorned several concrete landscapes ^[7] in Brazil with their colorful paintings, and now they’ve taken on the transformation of a blighted favela neighborhood. The area, Santa Marta ^[8], is one of Brazil’s notorious favelas ^[9], or shantytowns. They call this urban explosion of color Favela Painting ^[7], and it has become a local source of pride.

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There are hundreds of favelas ^[9] in Brazil, a casualty of the country’s extreme economic inequality. Favelas aren’t built to any kind of code or safety standards — they’re simply a means for the poorest populations to house themselves. To cover the blighted buildings in swaths of color, Favela Painting ^[7] employs local residents, training them in professional painting techniques and safety. The powerful stripes cover only a portion of the larger hillside neighborhood; the artists hope to continue the artwork over the entire favela. Remarkably, the whole thing is funded by individual and private donations — as if the candy stripes weren’t enough to make you smile already.

+ Favela Painting ^[7]

Via The Coolist ^[10]