Archive for January, 2013
Tourism in the Favelas: What About the Residents?
Jan 31st
Click here for original Portuguese Opinion piece by Itamar Silva in O Dia.
It is hard to contain water flowing downwards, smoke rising, and the tourist invasion of pacified favelas. Something must be done to prevent the positivity of the moment from turning into “communities just for show.” The pacified favelas have become targeted by a consumer’s lust seldom seen in Rio de Janeiro. From the moment the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) installed themselves, in some favelas it is like a new sarcophagus of Tutankamon, the Egyptian pharaoh, has been discovered. A legion of tourists, researchers, business men, and marketers ‘discovered’ the favelas.
During its almost More >
Rent Doubles in Alemão — 417 Families Have 15 Days to Move Out
Jan 30th
Click here for original Portuguese article by Alessandro Lo-Bianco in O Dia.
Since the Complexo do Alemão community was pacified in November of 2010, increased real estate values have caused sleepless nights for at least 417 families left homeless by higher rents. The increase has been greater than 100% in many cases. Residents of the Parque Novo allotment, these families have now occupied the premises of a church that will soon be expropriated by the state to make room for a new public housing development.
“There was no way we could stay. Rent used to be between R$100 and R$250, but now it’s between R$300 More >
Sustainable Glass
Jan 28th
Climbing one of the many slopes of Morro da Pedreira in Costa Barros in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, you might not guess you’d find a father up here with a great talent for folk art and a passion for recycling and the environment. The material this man has chosen for his beautiful work is glass.
Often carelessly thrown away, glass becomes one of the villains in this season’s all-too-common flooding. Glass takes hundreds of years to biodegrade, which is why it is commonly recycled, or at least should be.
The artist Alex Sandro, or “Cabeludo” as he’s known in the community More >
Olympic Legacy in East London: Displacement & Gentrification
Jan 25th
Last year’s London Olympics is widely viewed as a success. From Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening and closing ceremonies to the smooth organizational running of the Games, the event seemed to represent a model hosting of an international mega-event and, despite the British public’s complaints of overspending and questioning of value in the run up to the Games, the country was swept by a wave of national pride as the Games came and went.
But what of the Olympics’ local impacts and long term legacy in East London, the main site of the 2012 Games and the Olympic Park?
The East End of More >
Laje, Sweet Laje
Jan 22nd
For original article in Viva Favela click here.
Antônio Pascoal mixes cement with sand to form concrete, adds rocks to "bater laje."
Lack of space has become a chronic problem in Rio’s favelas. It is evident that in the last few years buildings have grown taller. Dribbling the squeeze has become a constant concern. In most cases, there is just one solution: another floor, a Joker for anyone who needs to increase the size of their house, build a new room, or needs new work space. For residents, this is a triumph almost as important as home ownership itself.
Not coincidentally the construction More >
