How to explain "gambiarra" to gringo?

Brazil is known for the Samba’s swing, the dribbling in soccer, the MPB beat and now, I add, for the “gambiarra”. As I'm living abroad in a country that has absolutely nothing in common with my homeland other than it spins around the Sun and is inhabited by human beings, and I found myself thinking: how I would explain to a gringo the meaning of the word “gambiarra”?

I won’t bore the reader with a dictionary definition. No, this definition does not matter! The one that does is the one that is in people’s mouth (1), the one that, as the cliché says “is as democratic as a football stadium” (2), an expression that goes from south to north, west to east of the country and that presents itself in all social classes’ vocabulary.

According to the norm of an authentic Brazilian “gambiarra” means improvising, using a lot of imagination and very few resources – preferably none – with the goal of achieving an end without worrying too much (euphemism) with aesthetics, but with functionality. The rule is that “creativity has no limits”, a Brazilian maxim (motto), must be taken very seriously.

I'm afraid of architect’s faces and mouths (3) as they read this. I'm from a generation that inherited the plague of boring modernists who said that "form follows function" or something like that. I humbly ask the architectonic intelligentsia their forgiveness, but people’s slang is God’s voice (4) and, for the gambiarra practitioner, the important thing is not “form representing the function”, whatever that means, but: “form follows what works best and has a pretty cheap cost, preferably, zero”.

Gambiarra is present from the moment Brazilians wake up. In the morning, when faced with the bread’s package for breakfast, one is remembered of gambiarra as some adept tied a tiny wire to seal the package. There it is: gambiarra! Brazilians go to work and are faced with many gambiarras on the way: the tangled wires and cables of electricity, telephone, and TV (yes! There is even an expression called “gato-NET” (5) which is a subgroup of the gambiarra category and it means to cheat the cable TV company and have illegal free TV and internet access); the famous “Benjamin” (6) plug (where one should, fit two, three, four... ten – the sky is the limit!); the infamous little piece of wood to hold the door so it doesn't slam. Well, as you can see, Brazilian’s improvisation and creativity transcend art, music, football and is incorporated into the cultural essence of its people, with gambiarra being as present as the few clothes on the Brazilian beaches.

Once the concept is clear, I’ll now mention gambiarra in constructions. It is the number one enemy of architects and civil engineers, as it is the result of a poorly solved project, inefficient communication, a bad idea (or a good idea that wasn’t sufficiently elaborated at the right time – during project stage), a lack of knowledge and/or skill, a rush to complete a job or simply the result of laziness. Gambiarra is the last resort and the absolute proof that at some point something that should have been thought about and solved was not.

Remembering a famous phrase “as long as there is life, there is hope” derives another: “as long as there is man, there is gambiarra”, and I seriously doubt my hopes regarding the end of gambiarra in the Brazilian’s life. Improvisation is an impressive feature of man, and civil construction, more precisely, the construction itself is a tempting opportunity for creatives. As already mentioned, the causes of gambiarra can be numerous, while the consequence is unique: an aesthetic disaster and, eventually, even a functional one.

Will we ever be able to get rid of gambiarra in construction? There is no simple, single, and definitive answer, as Brazilians feel the need to make their creativity known. Well-solved projects, good communication between project and construction teams, a good field engineer (good group management and leadership in a construction can determine its success or failure), good quality materials, better technical and intellectual preparation of the builders, and the awareness of these workers as to the desired goal (the importance of an aesthetic harmony) are some of the answers.

What’s important to be clear, whether to Brazilians or gringos, is that, at least in civil construction, gambiarra has no place. By this I do not mean that I am, in no way, against improvisation and creativity. I think these are incredible characteristics of Brazilians: their power of adaptability, imagination, and creativity. Let us, however, leave these valuable trademarks for the moments that they are in fact desirable: preferably in arts and sports, and not when we deal with aesthetics and efficient performance of buildings.

(1) Literal translation of a Portuguese expression that means that something is being talked about a lot by society;

(2) In Brazil there is a cliché that says that football stadiums are a good representation of democracy, since they gather people from all social classes who are there for the same purpose: to watch a game and support their team;

(3) Brazilian expression that means perplexity, surprise;

(4) Reference to the Latin expression vox Populi, vox Dei, often used in its literal translation into Portuguese, changing the term "voice" to “slang”.

(5) NET is a cable television and internet operator. “Gato” means “cat” in Portuguese;

(6) Term used in Brazil to refer to a plug adapter that (wrongly) provides more electrical outputs than originally designated.

Figure sources:

Banner: https://revistaadnormas.com.br/2020/09/01/compartilhando-as-redes-eletricas-com-a-de-telecomunicacoes-conforme-a-norma

Figure 2: https://avozdaserra.com.br/noticias/camara-cobra-fim-do-emaranhado-de-fios-nos-postes-de-friburgo

Figure 4: https://pt.wikihow.com/Travar-uma-Porta-sem-Tranca