Cidade Nova is a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Formerly a swamp, the area was drained and occupied in the 1970's by favela dwellers who had been banned from the city center in Rio where the favela they'd been living in was torn down. The occupation by the former city center favela dwellers was organized by a small group of designated citizens who divided the land into a system of grids based on streets' (actually dirt tracks) and building lots. The division was very rational. Each street was given a letter (A Street, B Street, C Street) and each building lot a number (House 146, House 147, House 148).
In May of 2010, after nearly forty years, the streets of Cidade Nova were finally paved. In light of this, Annelies came up with a proposal-project i.e. to replace the original lettered street names with new names more relevant to the community's historical and cultural values. Over the course of the interviews she conducted, many stories and ideas were expressed. It also became clear that jobs, money, healthcare and education were more important than changing the street names. Because of this, Annelies decided to name the project 'Rua sem Nome' (Street without a Name).
In the hope that the next generation will enjoy better living conditions and maybe then feel the need to name their own streets, Annelies organized a workshop with the children of the neighborhood. She asked them to think about possible names for their own street and visualize this name by drawing it with chalk in an original typography on the newly paved streets.