It’s time for the next step, the next category *ar2com*.
Santa Teresa and Lapa are two districts in Rio de Janeiro where the community spirit has built up an interesting understanding of urbanism. Once ignored as marginalised places with crime, drugs and prostitution Rio is now very interested in these urban spaces. The governement wants to sell this community spirit to toursists – a fine way to exploit.
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Those who understand German can listen to a podcast by Geo. Here is the link to an extra audio called Sambacity.
Abseits von Copacabana und Zuckerhut entdecken die Einwohner von Rio de Janiero ihre alten Viertel wieder. Und den traditionellen Samba, der dort überlebt hat. Johannes Strempel verliert sich in schmalen Gassen, kolonialen Villen und melancholischen Liedern. Hören Sie seine Reportage “Sambacity” aus GEO SAISON 04/2007. Es liest: Mathias Unger (Länge: 13:55 Min.; 12,7 MB)
Hi Jula, hi listeners! Thank you for this chapter – now I have a more personal view on your surrounding. I think its very important for authors and also for academics to include the personal situation and auto-reflection in their work. Cultural scientists call this phenomena the observer of third order. Well I think you, as a arquetist (liked that one) fit well in your surrounding and I personally think architecture should always communicate with its surrounding. Niemeyer is certainly one of the most famous arquetists who followed this concept and he is living in Rio! Rio is the most communicative city I know and even if there are lots of different systems in that metropole, there is communication between them. So if Santa Tereza is having a district party, its a kind of immaterial architecture which was constructed to self-describe the “bairro”. Now it comes to interest, how Santa Teresa (that means its inhabitants) are inter-acting with its surrounding. Is it possible to develop an architecture which serves as space for communication with its surrounding (the other districts, the tourists, the new ground-buyer)? Café e Cama is probably one example of such architecture, so keep on researching on this topic. I am also curious to read, what architects and other podcast-listeners think about it. cheers and greetings from Berlin PS: forgot to post my occupation: freelancer in arts-management and media (tv).
Rio has sooooo many stories to tell! Great you started out in the most exciting and intellectual wise most inspiring neighbourhood of Santa Tereza. 🙂 I loved your stories and am looking forward to the next chapter. Hope to catch you on the weekend. Beijos Sabine
My Comment goes here:
feedback
Didier from Brussels, architect and cartoonist.
Hello, I would like to present here my personal theory concerning the relationship between the city and the community:
I take for example an existing city district; it has his qualities and his failings. A small part of the inhabitants decides to make something to ameliorate the living quality. A new community is growing and becomes the dynamic power of the district. This community is also an ideological group and becomes slowly homogeneous. These ideas attract foreign people in the district and the mix of people disappears step by step. The district is finally changed, a community is now installed
until a few people of this community want to change something in the quiet harmony of the new way to live in the district. And this process always comes back again.
Conclusion: I think that people goes while architecture stays. There is always a gap of a few decades between both.
btgms – architect
It took me a while to sum up the article I read on a weekly german newspaper – but here it is:
The Soul of Rio
On the weekly newspaper „Die Zeit“ (09/06/07) I found an article where the change of Rio during the last decades is described:
On the example of two quarters the author shows the new relationship between the inhabitants and the districts. The districts Lapa and Santa Teresa changed from favelas ruled by drugs, fear and violence on one hand and on the other under landslips into hip quarters where the inhabitants care about the image of their home.
In the meantime, the city has discovered its neglected parts: Santa Teresa is a big part during the day, and Lapa from dusk till dawn, when the people quit the blossomed streets of Santa Teresa towards the nightlife of Lapa.
You can say, a new melting pot emerged in the middle of Rio. The two districts combine culture, music, citizens’ initiative, old bohemians with hip artists and the simple life of the residents and more and more tourists.
Through the stick-together of the inhabitants, they won the struggle against drugs and dealers for a better life with the annual art festival and the magnificent view over the beach and the skyline.
Nowadays, on the streets of Lapa and Santa Teresa, you can find favela-children, rich people from other outskirts, hippies, snobbish girlies, tourists and artists …. All together they live their own life but in the same areas – what a wonderful prototype for living elsewhere!
And here is the whole articel in German:
http://www.zeit.de/2007/37/Rio?page=1