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| Vila Autódromo Favela Rio de Janeiro, Brazil g1.globo.com |
Hello Everyone:
Amid all the confetti and fireworks of the 2016 Summer Olympics, one story that was overlooked was the massive displacement of Favela residents to make way for new development projects in Rio de Janeiro. Before you all groan, "please the Olympics are old news, Yours Truly promises no more Olympic-related articles after today. Natalie Delgadillo shares in her CityLab article, "Olympic Development in Rio Leave a Tarnished Legacy," looks at a Brazilian research project (http://www.rionow.org; accessed Aug 23, 2016) outlining development projects in Rio since the city won the right to host the Games in 2009. The study paints an unflattering portrait of Olympic-motived development and its impact on the host city.
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| The winning ballot english.sin.com |
[Residents stand to] gain more metro lines, more trains, more sewage treatment, more in terms of the environment, social services, in terms of sport and culture. (http://www,theguardian.com; accessed Aug 23, 2016)
Did any of these promises come true? For the most part, no they did see the light of day. Actually, these promises were fulfilled for some of the people, not all. The Olympic-induced development-i.e. new Metro lines and the "smart city investments-has been seriously pilloried by Rio residents and the international "...for perpetuating the city's already vast inequality." The website, http://www.rionow.org, from architecture professor Ana Luiza Nobre tracks every development project from 2009 t0 2016, gives a detailed look at building and how focused (or non-existent) the benefits have been.
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| Rio de Janeiro high rise with Favelas in the foreground geauxingplaces.com |
The information on the website is objective without offering any specific opinions. That does not mean that Prof. Nobre has her thoughts. She told Ms. Delgadillo,
There is nothing worthwhile that's going to stand in 10 year's time...All the projects are so bad, and all the work has been done so badly. It's really striking, the low quality.
Quite a contrast to yesterday's post on the future of Olympic venues.
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| Museum of Tomorrow Santiago Calatrava Rio de Janeiro, Brazil e-architect.co.uk |
Working conditions on construction sites were so bad...that 12 laborers dies on the job over the past seven years.
The Olympic Village buildings have been continuously plagued with construction and maintenance issues-flooded floors, moldy wall, and holes in the ceiling.
The myriad of infrastructure and safety problems aside, according to Prof. Nobre, there was "...the lack of respect for Rio's traditional aesthetic and architecture." She cites the heralded Museum of Tomorrow, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava as a prime example. She said,
It's a bad project. [It's] badly constructed, and it has nothing to do with the landscape. It's this very aggressive, iconic type of building that we are trying get rid of.
Prof. Nobre was also bothered the city's decision to hire Mr. Calatrava to build the oblong-shaped museum, given the repeated controversy of the quality of his previous work.
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| Map of the 2016 Olympic venues mapsofworld.com |
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| Rocinha Favela Rio de Janeiro, Brazil en.wikipedia.org |
They said, 'No we don't want cable cars, we want a sewage system,...'But this [type of infrastructure] isn't as visible as a cable car, which has become very iconic.
The favela received neither of the improvements.
Then there was the issue of displacement. According to Prof. Nobre, "..22,000 families in total have been displaced by Olympic work, totaling nearly 100,000 people [other sources give lower number, around 60,000]." Regardless, you have to be shocked by the number of people left without homes. The most infamous was is Villa Autódromon, a small favela, home to 600 families who were violently removed from their homes to make way for the eventual entry to Olympic Park. Ms. Delgadillo reports, "After brutal confrontations with police, only 25 families managed to stay, in new buildings constructed by the government. Prof. Nobre continued,
[The favela] was right near the entrance. They didn't need to displace people, but it looked bad have these people there [in such public view...
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| Two women in Villa Autódromo Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the guardian.com |
The majority of the displace went to live on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, in a complex of large government building called Minha Case, Minha Vida (My Home, My Life). Prof Nobre adds,
This place is very far, about 50 or 60 kilometers from downtown, and it has very little infrastructure.
RioNow's topographic map presents the focus of Olympic-related project is in one part of the city, and a completely empty west side, where the government housing is sited. She said,
They made an investment in one half of the city, and the people who got displaced were moved to the other half.
For Professor Ana Luisa Nobre, the legacy of inequality in the wake of the Olympic Games is "microcosm of Brazil's problems as a country." Inequality runs amok-Brazil is considered one of the 25 most unequal countries in the world-no one has a clue about what life will be like for Brazil in 10 years. Her assessment,
The situation in Rio is a good example for people who want to understand Brazil. [It is] like this all over the country.
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