S達o | Rio
Vulnerable Spaces
On October 5, 2014, Brazil held national and state elections. These elections, coupled with the award to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, make visiting Brazil relevant for the study of urban transformation. Many observers of Brazil note that this nation of 200 million people has now arrived “onto the world stage.” One of the goals of this research study is to add to the small quantity of English language scholarship on Brazilian urbanism. Brazil has a long history of strong public participation to influence political and social change. Public places have been integral in providing space to facilitate these changes. Yet, these spaces are becoming increasingly rarer in cities throughout Brazil. Our film highlights public spaces in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo before they are completely lost. It also exposes the hostility that arises from a “city of walls.” It further showcases the differences in the treatment of public space between these two metropoles. This supporting catalogue describes the observed trends.
São Paulo
Neighborhoods Distinguished by Socioeconomic Class
Low Concentration of Wealth
High Concentration of Wealth
1. Barra Funda – filmed 2. Centro 3. Favela de Alba 4. Higienopolis - filmed 5. Ibirapuera – filmed 6. Iparanga 7. Jardim Paulista – filmed 8. Liberdade 9. Luz 10. Morumbi – filmeda 11. Paraiso – filmed 12. Paraisopolis – filmed 13. Pinheiros 14. Sé 15. Vila Madalena – filmed 16. Vila Mariana – filmed 17. Vila Nova Conceicao 18. Vila Pompéia
13
7 5
3 10 12
2
4
15
17
9
1
18
14 8
11 16
6
Rio de Janeiro
Neighborhoods Distinguished by Socioeconomic Class Low Concentration of Wealth
High Concentration of Wealth
1. Barra - filmed 2. Botafogo - filmed 3. Cantagalo - filmed 4. Centro - filmed 5. Copacabana – filmed 6. Gavea 7. Ipanema – filmed 8. Leblon 9. Maracana 10. Niteroi 11. Rocinha – filmed from Dois Irmaos 12. Santa Teresa - filmed 13. Santa Marta – filmed 14. Urca 15. Vidigal - filmed
10 4
9 12 13
2
5 6 11 1
15
8
7
3
14
The organization of people in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo is greatly affected by the landscape of the region and the location of the cities. In Rio de Janeiro, people of different classes are driven into close proximity by the region’s low mountains and the ocean. São Paulo closely follows the center/periphery model, it has no dominating landscape characteristics to influence it to develop differently. The center/ periphery model for cities in South America locates the rich in the center and the poor on the peripheries.
View of S達o Paulo from a high-rise residential building in Morumbi
View of Copacabana from Cantagalo
Public space is defined as “the common ground where people carry out the functional and ritual activities that bind a community.� 1
1
Carr, Stephen (1993). Public Space (p. xi). Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
(0:41) Skatepark in Parque Ibirapuera, Ibirapuera, S達o Paulo
Brazilian society firmly believes that a conscious urbanism has the ability to change society and “achieve a higher state of human and social development.� 2
2
del Rio, Vincente (2009). Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond BrasĂlia.
(p. xxv) Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
(0:47) Field in Parque Ibirapuera, Ibirapuera, S達o Paulo
In both Rio de Janeiro and S達o Paulo density continues to increase. People in Brazil prefer and love living in close proximity. This results in vibrancy and a large variety of social interaction. We believe, such a model of development is much more sustainable than the model of sprawl found in North America.
(1:12) Field in Parque Buenos Aires, Higienopolis, S達o Paulo
Older, traditional neighborhoods in both cities are equipped with many parks and praças for common use. Even when located in “respectedâ€? neighborhoods, the parks are under the constant surveillance of security guards or the police.
(1:16) Embracing Statue in Parque Buenos Aires, Higienopolis, S達o Paulo
City codes allow property owners to build fences along front setback limits, creating another barrier to separate the private and public realms.3 In an effort to increase security this is currently occurring in older neighborhoods, causing the street to become a hostile environment. High walls, sometimes as high as 25 ft, are disproportionate to human size. These walls, combined with barbed wire and spikes, fosters unease in the streets.
3
Friedmann, John and Goetz Wolff, 2006. World Citity Formation: An Agenda
for Research and Action. In The Global Cities Reader, edited by Neil Brenner and Roger Keil. New York: Routledge.
(1:34) Guarded Residential Complex, Higienopolis, S達o Paulo
As density increases, people of different classes are pushed closer together, causing people to search for other methods of segregation. Newer neighborhoods, like the Jardims, Morumbi and Barra, have been designed with no sidewalks to discourage unwanted populations (i.e. someone who cannot afford a car) from visiting. Those that are seen walking on the street are treated with suspicion. While walking around Higienopolis, a first generation suburb in S達o Paulo that has been absorbed into the central district of the city, we were stopped by a security guard and questioned about our purpose in the neighborhood.
(1:38) Guarded entrance to a residential complex, Higienopolis, S達o Paulo
Up until the 1980/90s there was a fairly clear divide between the favelas and other neighborhoods. Different social classes did not interact because geographic distance separated them.4 Increased populations, resulting in increased density, cause different class neighborhoods to exist in closer proximity. The increased populations in Brazilian cities are largely the result of migration from the interior of Brazil.5
4
Caldeira, T. (2001). City of walls: Crime, segregation, and citizenship in SĂŁo
Paulo (pp. 198-335). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 5
del Rio, Vincente (2009). Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond BrasĂlia. (p.
28) Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
(1:41) High Rise buildings next to Paraisopolis Favela, Paraisopilis and Murumbi, S達o Paulo
New residential complexes are designed to be selfsustaining “miniature cities�. In these complexes a resident has all imaginable amenities at his disposal, including pools, fitness centers, shopping malls, parks, and restaurants. These amenities are employed by real estate developers as selling features and by the residents as class symbols. The paradox is that they are hardly used, with the exception of playgrounds. These elite residents still prefer their private clubs to the amenities offered in the complexes.
(1:52) Cidade Jardim Residential Complex, Morumbi, S達o Paulo
SESC PompĂŠia provides visitors with a number of multiuse spaces.
(2:17) Upstairs Reading Room in SESC Pompéia, Pompéia, São Paulo
SESC Pompeia is an example of innovative and good public space. It provides visitors with a variety of activities, some require payment but others are free. A variety of seating options are a thoughtful design move which allows the visitor to cater the public space to his needs.
(2:20) SESC Pompéia, Vila Pompéia, São Paulo
The only populations that seem to be living in complete isolation are those banished to the favelas and the top percent of the “elite.” This is especially true in São Paulo, where the favelas are located on the periphery of the city and the landscape allows for new elite neighborhoods to be built at a distance from the center, allowing for a higher degree of isolation. Such an observation could be interpreted as a positive, since it implies that the majority of the population uses public spaces. Yet, in a society where 1 in 4 people live in favelas (statistic for Rio, approximately the same for São Paulo) this observation is on the contrary.6
6
Tabela 2.3.5 - Domicílios particulares permanentes e moradores em
domicílios particulares permanentes, por adequação da moradia, segundo as características do entorno - Região Sudeste - 2010. (2010, January 1). Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://cidades.ibge.gov.br/xtras/temas. php?lang=&codmun=330455&idtema=1&search=rio-de-janeiro|rio-dejaneiro|censo-demografico-2010:-sinopse-
(2:59) Ipanema Beach, Ipanema, Rio De Janeiro
The beach is a unique public space open to all social classes. It is a place where a millionaire is willing to share common space with a favela dweller. However, this “acceptability� ends where the territory of the beach ends.
(3:03) Copacabana Beach, Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro
Generally, the only existing public spaces in favelas are the streets. The favela streets are unsatisfactory public spaces. They are narrow, ill lit, often filled with garbage, and, often, lack proper sewage systems.
(3:15) Trash Crowded in the Walkway, Cantagalo, Rio De Janeiro
Isolation means the control of accessibility which results in social exclusion. It prevents unexpected encounters between different social classes and the development of a real urbanity.7 Large cities in Brazil are beginning to resemble world cities, especially those in the United States and Canada.
7
del Rio, p. 28.
(3:37) Praรงa Quinze, Centro, Rio De Janeiro
Brazil is becoming an increasingly auto dependent society. Residents of enclosed residential buildings and complexes go from their homes to their cars to their destination, back to their cars and then back to their homes. As a result, they never interact with the public sphere.
(3:50)
Rua Santa Clara, Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro
The Koolhaas and Urhahn Painting Project is an initiative to raise people’s opinion of where they live and to increase commercial activity in the favela. The project is correct in its conceptions as it creates a common project for all neighborhood member to participate in. The houses were painted by residents of Santa Marta. Yet, these painted houses are a backdrop to a dysfunctional sewage system and other consequences of unplanned construction.
(4:15)
Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn Favela Painting Project, Santa Marta, Rio De Janeiro
There exists a circular relationship between the architecture of the city and the socioeconomic gap. A large socioeconomic gap inspires fear (of crime, filth, disease etc.) in the “elite� population, causing these populations to isolate themselves from the public sphere. This leads to increased fragmentation of the city and privatization of public space, which results in increases in inequity and poverty. A rise in poverty
(5:23) Tire Stairs in Vidigal Favela, Vidigal, Rio De Janeiro
Parque SitiĂŞ is another example of intervention in the city of the whole public good. It is innocative because everything in the park is done with community initiative. Complete community involvement makes the park sustainable and maintainable. Residents learn how to take care of it and it is assured that they get waht they want from their public space. The park is built on the boundary of Tijuca National Park, preventing further auto-construction.
(5:37) Parque Sitie, Vidigal, Rio De Janeiro
Parque SitiĂŞ is also sustainable in its use of materials. The tires that were used to make a retaining wall were taken from the landfill that used to occupy the site where the park is currently located.
(5:40) Parque Sitie, Vidigal, Rio De Janeiro
Film filmed and edited | Mariya Lupandina and Joaquin Diaz Music | Untitled and Distant Rhodes by Substant Special Thanks to | Northeastern University Scholars Program Dr Thomas Vicino, School of Public Policy Northeastern School of Architecture Caroline Shannon and Pedro De Christo + D // Design with Purpose Johnny Draper