{"id":3684,"date":"2012-05-11T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T12:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=3684"},"modified":"2014-06-21T14:22:38","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T17:22:38","slug":"resident-response-to-o-globo-article-vidigal-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=3684","title":{"rendered":"Gentrifying the ‘Slave Quarters’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I edit a blog about Vidigal,\u00a0Vidiga!<\/a>. For some time I\u2019ve been walking through the favela and hearing about the construction of a small luxury hotel, more precisely in the spectacular viewpoint area of Arvr\u00e3o, and designed by renowned architect H\u00e9lio Pellegrino.<\/p>\n

Rumor has it that the construction site and work being done are in a risky area, and that the soil is too unstable for such heavy a job \u2013 because, despite the hotel to-be having only two floors, there will also be rooftop pool.<\/p>\n

And, behold: on Wednesday, an article was published by the newspaper O Globo<\/em><\/a> in which the architect exposed his innovative vision: “Vidigal was always the senzala<\/em> (slave quarters) of the great house of Ipanema and Leblon. Now everyone can explore the area and discover what\u2019s in the area, which is wonderful.”<\/p>\n

Using that old interpretation technique that I learned in primary school, I now analyze his words:<\/p>\n

\u201cNow everyone can explore the area and discover what\u2019s in the region”: I can point out two inaccuracies there. The first is that not “everybody” can attend a 5 star \u201cluxury\u201d hotel. And, in fact, many people who are really looking for a Vidigal for “everyone” have been working against real estate overvaluation, the now-famous “white removal” (gentrification), which subtly pushes residents away from the community.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It is important to let people know that “everybody” can ALREADY<\/a>\u00a0discover the wonders of Vidigal–its walking trails, its bars, restaurants, festivals and nightlife, without the presence of said hotel. It’s all here and there are many people coming up the hill. Even more than the present road infrastructure can support, actually.<\/p>\n

Next, “slaves of the big house of Ipanema”: this shows a somewhat colonial and particularly ignorant vision of the Vidigal community. The architect might not know of the rich cultural life that has always existed here, ever since the hill was occupied\u2026 the organized dances of the \u00c1guia Futebol Clube (Eagle Football Club) which congested the former Estrada do Tamb\u00e1 (Tamb\u00e1 Road) \u2013 currently known as Estrada Presidente Goulart – when people from middle class neighborhoods went up the hill, as they still do today, benefitting from the cultural life in Vidigal. You may not have heard of our celebrations, which, combined, can attract up to 1200 people in one night. The Lamparina (or Luv) parties and the festivities of Alto Vidigal, right there on Arvr\u00e3o.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yet another mention that deeply bothered me was saying that the new construction \u201cis playing a role in sustainability,” and that it is \u201cinnovative and will thus help the people around learn of recycling and reusing possibilities,” as said Mr. Antonio Rodriguez, a business partner of Pellegrino. Perhaps he should be introduced to the activities of Siti\u00ea Vidigal, where trash becomes furniture, or even to Wilson Alexandre, who built an entire residential condominium made with recycled material (photo).<\/p>\n

The Vidigal Residents Association also issued its opinion. They are in favor of external investment that helps develop local tourism. However, due to Vidigal\u2019s current infrastructure, they question the development of \u201csuper projects\u201d like this one.<\/p>\n

I am a resident who\u2019s happy with Vidigal\u2019s economic growth, but also offended by the limited and colonialist vision expressed by Mr. H\u00e9lio Pellegrino.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I edit a blog about Vidigal,\u00a0Vidiga!. For some time I\u2019ve been walking through the favela and hearing about the construction of a small luxury hotel, more precisely in the spectacular viewpoint area of Arvr\u00e3o, and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1267,1328,1331,335,336],"tags":[221,65,390,675,10,156,363],"writer":[486],"translator":[480],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gentrificationwatch","8":"category-by-community-contributors","9":"category-opinion-2","10":"category-policies","11":"category-violations","12":"tag-favela-culture","13":"tag-gentrification","14":"tag-globo","15":"tag-helio-pellegrino","16":"tag-real-estate-speculation","17":"tag-south-zone","18":"tag-vidigal","19":"writer-mariana-albanese","20":"translator-juliana-m-de-souza"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=3684"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=3684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}