SAO PAULO, Brazil — As shoppers and businessmen pass by the 13-story office tower, a middle-aged man peers through a hole in a thick metal door, pulling back a heavy steel rod to allow in only members of the Movement of Housing for All.

Upstairs, children, low-income workers and a few revolutionary idealists squat in makeshift apartments that boast stunning views but no water or kitchens. Communal bathrooms are available in the middle of the Sao Manuel office building, which has been occupied by the movement for almost a year.

In a large central room, a group of women prepares a cheap, hearty meal and plans out a work schedule for fellow residents. When an 80-year-old woman with diabetes falls ill, others on her floor come together to call paramedics. When she dies in the hallway, the neighbors comfort one another before moving on with their lives.

"I came to Sao Paulo from my small hometown, where there is no work, and ended up staying in this occupation with a friend without knowing anything about it at all," says Mirla Kelly Firmino da Silva, 22, a freelance beautician who specializes in manicures. "But now I believe completely in the movement. None of us can afford to pay what rent costs here, and we deserve dignified housing."

"Workers used to live close to where they work. But the elite made a pact with the government to push them out into the periphery and push up the price of land for the rich. The occupations are meant to combat the logic of just throwing the poor further and further away."