The Olympic Juggernaut Hits Rio de Janeiro: Is there a compelling new story?
Guest Post by Maulik Bansal
Today more people live in urban areas than ever before. Our cities are changing rapidly and will continue to do so, and a resilient city may be one that is flexible and adaptable to these changing conditions in social, economical and physical development. Over the last decade, China and the Gulf region have been driven by economic stimulus and authoritarian governments that are able to rapidly and comprehensively change the shape of their urban structure and heritage, though sometimes in disputable and non-democratic ways. It may be argued that such interventions are often associated with authoritative governmental role. But this article contends that it is often the paradigm of intervention itself that enables the government to adopt such a role.
One such paradigm is the mega event, and its perception as a symbol of the resilience and strength of an economy, supposedly representative of the aspirations of its people. As John Short mentions in his 2008 article ‘Globalization, cities and the Summer Olympics’ published in City,
“Across the world city elites are promoting a global city imaginary; a vision of a self-consciously ‘global’ city replete with images of busy international airports, foreign tourists, inward investment, a cosmopolitan atmosphere, creative industries, cultural economies and an overwhelmingly positive image shared around the world.”
However, the scope of the event transcends mere advertising, and becomes a catalyst for significant urban renewal and socio-economic change. Here, it is not the projection of an identity, but the actual manufacturing of it that takes center stage. Here, lies the critical point of juncture – a ‘make-or-break’ situation – that the city is faced with. Facing ever-increasing pressures
GUAYAQUIL REVISITED >> Architecture in Development
I wanted to share this feature that I wrote for Architecture in Development, regarding Guayaquil’s Urban Regeneration strategies and the waterfront renovation project: Malecón del Salado. Although this project was one of the first to be showcased and discussed in FAVELissues, I believe that is a good time to revisit it with new graphic and textual information.
LINK: UPGRADING INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS – A CASE STUDY FROM ECUADOR
Sectional Diagram, Malecón del Salado (Guayaquil); created by Adriana Navarro
FAVELA CHIC :: Aerial Cable Cars & Gondolas
Metrocable in Santo Domingo, Medellin
The upgrading of ‘slums’ in Latin American cities attracts the global eye. Although governments, planners and architects have long intervened in informal settlements -or favelas- it is only recently that design and physical interventions have become central components. Following a long history of tabula rasa, public housing, self-help, and sites-and-services schemes, current approaches to favelas have evolved into strategies characterized as ‘urban acupuncture,’ aiming to minimize displacement and improve the conditions in the area by focusing on the aspects most absent in the settlement: infrastructure, public space, and public equipment. From libraries, to parks, to new facades and representations, waterfront renovations, and urban promenades, one of the most popular and recognized interventions today is the aerial cable car system, also known as Metrocable, or Teleferico depending on the context.
Metrocable in San Javier, Medellin
With much scrutiny and financial instability, Medellín, completed it’s first Metrocable in Santo Domingo in August 2004. The city now boast three Metrocable systems including Santo Domingo, the Metrocable San Javier, linking the Comuna 13 and inaugurated in 2008, and a tourist line inaugurated in 2010, which begins at the Santo Domingo station and extends into the National Park Arví (an investment of $50.500 millon for the city).
Caracas implemented it’s own Metrocable system in the barrio San Agustín, which began in January 2010.
In great means responding to the city’s preparation for the World Cup and the Olympics, attempting to upgrade and dress up favelas in the city for the great events, Rio de Janeiro completed its first cable car system earlier this year, 2011.
In Bogotá recent elections, the metrocable became a star players, included in the majority of the candidate’s agendas as a strategy to alleviate and address poverty in Colombia’s capital.
Metrocable San Javier, Medellin
Aiming to enhance the connectivity and permeability of marginalized settlements, aerial gondola systems have quite rapidly become the symbols of social change in cities, placing a strong emphasis on the image and representation. As these interventions become more prevalent, they require a scrutinizing and analytical lens.
DRAWING UP THE METROCABLE + PUI NORIENTAL (COMUNAS 1+2)
In 2010, I had the opportunity to conduct an entire year of field research, developing a comparative analysis with a focus on current ‘slum’ upgrading strategies in Latin America. During this time, I organized a series of cognitive mapping workshops with local residents in different settlements; in Medellín’s Northeastern settlements [Comunas 1 and 2], I worked with a local NGO, Convivamos. The mapping sessions aimed to measure the “socio-spatial integration” produced by the Metrocable, the Library of Spain and accompanying PUI interventions, based on a comparison of perceptions between local residents and inhabitants of other “formal” areas of the city.
Before diving into discussions on the results and observations, some quick context: Read More…
Lecture at Parsons :: Vila Viva Favela Redesign, Belo Horizonte
Fernando Lara lectures at Parsons School of Design, discussing participatory budgeting strategies in Belo Horizonte, and recent projects in the Brazilian favelas.
“Vila Viva Favela Redesign, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.” Claudius Pereira, chief executive of the Agency for Housing and Urbanization for Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Dr. Fernando Lara, architect and professor at the University of Texas, Austin, discuss the redesign of the Vila Viva Favela, winner of a Metropolis Award.
TIME: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LOCATION: 6 East 16th Street, 12th Floor, Room 1200
ADMISSION: Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served
Link + Article :: Design for the Other 90% CITIES
Top: Children play on the Platform of Hope, above Gulshan Lake, Dhaka, Bangladesh. [Photo by Khondaker Hasibul Kabir] Bottom: A mural by community youth and artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, working under the nameHaas&Hahn, Vila Cruzeiro favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [Photo by Haas&Hahn]
Cynthia Smith, the curator of the Cooper Hewitt’s Design for the Other 90%: CITIES exhibit wrote an interesting article on the online journal Places. The article summarizing Smith’s observations and findings, as well as showcases some particular projects. Following is a link of to the article, as well as a link to the online database of the CITIES exhibit.
Cynthia Smith on PLACES
Design for the Other 90%: CITIES ONLINE DATABASE
Metrocable :: Medellin + Caracas
As the aerial cable car- or metrocable- is quickly gaining attention and traction, becoming one of the new paradigms in addressing urban informality, I wanted to share this short video of the 2 Metrocables in Medellin (with a focus on Santo Domingo), and the Metrocable in Caracas (Barrio San Agustin).
METROCABLES VIDEO:
** Special thanks to Maria Carrizosa for helping me with the photo stills composite.
Design with the Other 90%: CITIES
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
On view October 15 – January 9, 2012
Location: Main Gallery, United Nations Visitors Lobby
The groundbreaking 2007 “Design for the Other 90%” exhibition has been developed into an ongoing series that will continue to focus on design solutions that address the 90 percent of the world’s population not traditionally serviced by the professional design community.
“Design with the Other 90%: CITIES,” the second exhibition in the series, will examine the complex issues arising from the unprecedented rate of urban growth projected to take place over the next 20 years, primarily in the informal settlements of the global south. Organized by Cynthia Smith, curator of socially responsible design, along with a 10 person advisory committee, the exhibition will explore the multidisciplinary, overlapping relationships among urban planning and design, education, social entrepreneurship, climate change, sanitation and water, migration, public health and affordable housing in these communities. As part of “Design with the Other 90%: CITIES,” the museum will make the information it gathers in the field accessible through an online open-network database, which will enable designers, communities and other stakeholders to work together to develop design solutions to these challenges. This important dialogue will also continue through a scholarly catalog and robust education programs.
Stay posted for Design with the Other 90%: CITIES ‘ online Open Network Database, part of the larger CITIES’ website. The online database will include information on projects and initiatives from the series, as well as additional urban projects and a social network for user-generated content.
MEET THE FAVELissues’ TEAM
If you haven’t done so, click on the tab ‘Writers‘ and meet some of FAVELisssues’ new contributers. Entries will begin to alternate by writer beginning next week.
Keep posted!
Workshop in Medellin :: The Metrocable
Medellín will be hosting an international workshop at the National University Campus from the 12th to the 14th December 2011. The event, entitled “Governance, mobility and poverty reduction: Lessons from Medellin, Colombia”, aims to share the findings of the first systematic independent appraisal of the pioneering experience of Medellín on the use of aerial cable cars for public transportation supported by a set of urban upgrading interventions. This 19 month-research project is coordinated by University College London (UCL), in partnership with Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Medellin Campus) and Universidad de los Andes (Bogota).
The workshop looks to provide pointers for successful application in other cities of the world and will also reflect on the potential impact that this system might have for low-income neighbourhoods of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city.
To learn more about the project and to pre-register follow the link below. The organisers will send you further information about the programme and other practical information about participating in the workshop, before the end of September 2011.
Learning from Favelas, book
I have known about this publication for a while thanks to an architecture graduate student from the University of Idaho (thanks Andy), but I wanted to check it out before passing the info along.
The book is a bricolage of projects- some more interesting than others- that are thinly tied by various aspects of informality (contrary to the title, not all projects are directly related to “favelas”). Projects range from physical interventions in informal settlements (public space, transportation, public equipment, infrastructure), to studies on the informal urban fabrics, to incremental housing projects that allow a strong component of auto-construction. Mostly, the book includes a list of usual suspects- JR, FavelaPainting, Marjetica Potrč’s art installations, U-TT with their very publicized metrocable in Caracas, and Mazzanti’s Library of Spain in Medellin, amongst others- but there is also a showcase of less-publicized projects such as the Nairobi Project by ETH studio Basel, and Stairology by Arqui 5, Celula Urbana in Rio de Janeiro, as well as a couple of surprises of ”new” projects like Frederic Druot’s studies of Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro). It is a very graphic publication showing little analysis but many “results.” There is also limited writing apart from project descriptions, and I would say, one good article at the beginning.
Bref, although not too theoretical nor analytical, I think the publication remains a good visual illustration of a wide range of projects, and worth checking out.
Adriana Navarro Sertich
Lubaina Rangwala
Jennifer Renteria
Kirsten Larson
Proyectos Arqui5
Tucker Landesman
Namrata Kapoor
Paula Restrepo-Cadavid
Andrew Carman
Jose Antonio Ramirez
Fernando Luiz Lara
Bethany Opalach
