Archive for August, 2012
Curicica (Part 4): Love, Above All Else
Aug 31st
This is the final of four articles about the cluster of favelas in Curicica, Jacarepaguá, that are awaiting urban integration projects through the Morar Carioca upgrading program.
“Life continues.”
“She was in an accident just recently,” said Regina Sônia Gomes Baptista, known by Sônia, ex-president of Vila União da Curicica, as we cut through her friend’s house and into her community. “The car flipped over and she was thrown right out.” Looking at the girl, it would have been hard to guess. Covered to the nose in a wool blanket, the look in her eyes gave away nothing but soft contentness and a shy, amused curiosity about More >
Curicica (Part 3): Awaiting Morar Carioca
Aug 29th
This is the third of four articles about the cluster of favelas in Curicica, Jacarepaguá, that are awaiting urban integration projects through the Morar Carioca upgrading program.
Quando será? (When will it be?)
The Residents’ Association of Vila Calmete sits above polluted waters that run alongside the community’s residential streets. On the other side of a short bridge, rich plantlife springs out of diverse pots of soil, framing the river through its length: a stark juxtaposition that accents both the potentials and the limits of community capacity absent public provisions. “None of this was here when I first visited Vila Calmete,” said Bezerra, president of the neighboring More >
Curicica (Part 2): TransOlímpica Stirs Fears of Eviction
Aug 27th
This is the second of four articles about the cluster of favelas in Curicica, Jacarepaguá that are awaiting urban integration projects through the Morar Carioca upgrading program.
A community that breathes.
Carlos Alberto “Bezerra” Costa, Resident’s Association president of Asa Branca, stopped to look over the row of houses that greeted us into favela Abadiana, his voice a few keys graver than usual as he spoke: “To tell you the truth… in a year or two, this road probably won’t be here.”
It’s often difficult to gauge the human energy of a place on an early Tuesday afternoon, but the traces of life that were visible that day More >
Vila Autodrómo: Evictions and Elections
Aug 25th
View original article in Portuguese here. Article by Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur to the UN on Adequate Housing.
On Wednesday, August 16, residents of the community of Vila Autodromo, in Rio de Janeiro, delivered an urbanization/upgrading proposal to Mayor Eduardo Paes. The proposal demonstrates that there is no incompatibility between the construction of the future Rio Olympic Park, the community’s existence, and the environmental preservation of Barra de Tijuca, where the community is located. In preparation for the Olympic Games, the city of Rio has plans to remove the nearly 500 families that have lived in the area for more than 40 More >
Bhering Artists Occupation Gets Public Support
Aug 24th
Since 2010, the former Bhering chocolate factory in Santo Cristo in the Port area of central Rio has became home to the city’s contemporary artists who have occupied and transformed the building into over 50 art studio spaces. Last month a court ordered all 72 occupants to vacate the premises within 30 days to allow new owners Syn-Brasil Enterprises to take over the building, located in an area that’s currently undergoing a huge regeneration project as part of Rio’s preparations for the 2016 Olympics. Fines were also imposed on artists, including a confectioner, upholsterer and furniture showroom among others. Unbeknownst to More >
