A day in Rio

When I was invited to go to Rio de Janeiro for the day I parked my 'we must stop flying' conscience and jumped at the opportunity, the only downside being that I would have only arrived in São Paulo the previous day.  Picked up at 6.00 to drive to the delightful inner city airport where you were treated like a human being. 

We had arrived the previous day in thick fog and drove into town through a dystopian traffic- jammed nightmare; but today there was not a cloud in the sky; so flying out over central São Paulo, it was difficult to believe the number of tight packed towers that have sprung up like thistles do, everywhere, as far as the eye can see with remnants of the old city left in the interstices.

By contrast, flying into the fabulous inner city airport of Rio banking left so you see the whole city centre before you shudder to a halt before tipping into the water - I know it's been done before but so exciting.  Then off to Studio X in what's left of Praça Tiradentes; that is 'Teeth-pulling' in memory of an 18th century Brazilian dentist who led an insurrection against the Portuguese who cut his head cut off and displayed it there. Dentistry is what the City Heritage team under Washington Fajardo are trying to do to save the remaining facades even though many of the buildings behind have collapsed and then encouraging rebuilding behind. 

Praça Tiradentes

Studio X  is a collaboration between the City and Colombia University and run by a great local team - two architects and one cultural producer - who have inserted a steel and timber climbing frame of connected spaces to fit the original facades.  There was a great cycling exhibition and another on 6 projects in Chile.

Pedro Riviera, Junia Santa Rosa, me, Leticia Montes, Washington Fajardo, Nanda Eskes



My job was to explain the legacy of CABE, the work of the Cambridgeshire Quality Panel and the workings of Building for Life 12 to see to what extent they may offer clues for those who want to ramp up the quality of architecture and urban design in Brazil in general and to support the massive popular housing programme My House MyLife (this is a  brief description from 2 years ago). There was a good discussion and I hope this will kick something Brazilian off.  I went on to give a similar talk to two different audiences in São Paulo.