Max Harden Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas June, 2013
“It’s hard for a mother to go to the trash and pick up the pieces of her son. It hurts your soul. It hurts your soul. Torture committed by soldiers from our own army is hard to swallow. To this day I still cry their death. I love this place. I love all of this here. I believe passion is what drives me. To try to improve things around here To raise morale To build our community. And to be able to better conditions for people Who really need it. And most of the time they come straight to my door. Dreams? So many. The government have never directly supported us. They have brought us violence. I only give this interview As you will take it far from here. Otherwise I wouldn’t because I am afraid.”i
Max Harden
Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
It is difficult to truly understand or depict what lies in the hearts of the Carioca Favelas. It’s history is scarred with waves of eradication, violence, and drugs and it’s image will come from many sources: propaganda, self-rightousness, the tourist peering in, the hills gazing out. Yet one thing is certain; never before has poverty become so glamorized. Our tour bus arrived outside of the Complexo do Alemão around nine in the morning. Before we touched our feet to the sidewalk, expensive possessions had quickly been stored within our bags, and special attention was given to our pockets. As much as we wanted to give the Carioca our complete trust, the media’s portrayal of the favelas is difficult to ignore. The Complexo do Alemão1 easily dwarfs its neighboring street-scape, signaling the first of six stations to infiltrate the largest Favela in Rio de Janeiro, connecting the formal and informal cities. In conjunction with supportive government programs, the Metropolis Projetos Urbanos (MPU) has been working on projects within the favelas for over fifteen years. The new cable car system, by scale, is the most significant effort in recent acupunctural strategies to benefit the favelas by easing transportation between the densely settled slums and the formalized city fabric. Arriving at the base station, this moment defined our first glimpse into this other world that we had only been familiarized through glamorized foreign news coverage, yet oddly enough, the faint sounds of traffic were replaced by soft instrumentals familiar to what we refer to as “elevator music,” while traces of street garbage had been replaced by the fragrances in the cosmetic store in the lobby of the station. What was disheartening about this discovery was the complete lack of propriety shown in programming these large spaces. The cable car project was without a doubt influenced by a similar project implemented in Medellín,
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“In order to pay tribute to those who play an essential role in society but who are primary victims of war, crime, rape and political or religious fanaticism, JR pasted huge photos of the faces and eyes of the local women all over the outside of the favela, suddenly giving a female gaze to both the hill and the favela.”
i. Interview provided by Rosiete Mariaho for international artist JR for his project Women are Heroes. Rosiete lives in the Morro da Providência favela.
1. The Complexo do Alemão is the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro. The cable car system opened on July 8, 2011.
Opposite Fig. 1 JR Rio de Janeiro, 2008-2009 Women are Heroes Photo on paper Morro da Providência
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Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
Columbia that shares intent, yet hails in comparison. The spaces provided by the Metrocable in Medellín were programmed with civic intention; providing schooling and recreation toward achieving revitalization while the Complexo do Alemão provides cosmetic retail. Coupled with local prioritization of sanitation infrastructure over the new cable car system, evidence suggests that the governments intention with the Complexo do Alemão was more importantly cosmetic than utilitarian. What I have discovered is that acupunctural urbanism comes in the form of many faces; the faces of those whose intentions reside within the very framework of its physical manifestation. With Brazil’s recent transition into the global perspective, as they are projected to become the fifth largest economy in the world, the intentions of the Growth Acceleration Program on behalf of President Lula de Silva are not easily discernible. Quite simply, are these projects meant to improve living conditions for the massive population living in the favelas, or is its simply just an image that the government is eager to portray? With the World Cup and Olympic coverage that will soon be broadcasting Rio de Janeiro to the world, the timing of such major projects suggests that Rio de Janeiro is more concerned with its public image, rather than homogenizing its population. The success of acupunctural urbanism cannot be determined by its economic or aesthetic accomplishments but rather its social implications. The interview quoted on the first page came from a project called Women are Heroes by international artist JR. Rosiete Marinho, the woman whom provided the quote, shows that the feeling within the favelas toward Brazilian government is one of distrust. Thus we cannot assume that large scale projects are the most successful in the eyes of the beneficiary, when in fact, the population doesn’t feel supported by their own government.
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Opposite, top: Fig. 2 Max Harden Rio de Janeiro, May 2013 Digital Photograph Complexo do Alemão Base Station Opposite, bottom: Fig. 3 Max Harden Rio de Janeiro, May 2013 Digital Photograph Complexo do Alemão
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Opposite: Fig. 4 Urban Think Tank Caracas, Venezuela, 2002 Modular Stair Digital Photograph British School
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Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
What I believe to be more successful, are the projects undertaken by the residents or third parties who care more about the benefits that they provide for the community rather than the image it portrays toward the global perspective. In these cases, regardless of scale, the feeling within the favelas is more often one of empowerment rather than oppression, thus building community rather than strengthening the division between formal and informal. Urban Think Tank is one of those third parties whom specialize in acupunctural strategies, formalizing interventions tailored to specific urban conditions in order to achieve social equality. Though they have not worked in Rio de Janeiro, they have been the driving force behind developments in the slums of Caracas, Venezuela and have been adamantly working to find the best solution toward acupunctural urbanism, believing that; “Approaches that involve large-scale, rapid change have razed slums, relocated populations, and infused poverty zones with cash through major public works, but have failed to eradicate the problem precisely because complex systems such as cities can only absorb so much change at one time. Moreover, success is less a function of available funds or technical expertise than of philosophical and cultural change. And we tend to forget that changes in lifestyle and expectations happen at very different rates than changes to the built environment.”ii Their work alleviates specific urban pressure points through a process which they call “slumlifting,” utilizing “purposeoriented” infrastructure as a form of activism to address inequalities without dramatically re formalizing the built environment. Urban Think Tank developed a modular staircase in the favelas of Caracas, while in scale this form of transportation infrastructure seems minimally invasion thus minimally effective, yet it acts as a catalyst for small scale thinking in ii. Urban Think Tank, Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity (New York, NY.: Bellerophon Publications, Inc, 2011), 128.
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order to achieve large scale results. In this situation, very closely related to the Carioca favelas, large centralized systems of infrastructure common to the formalized metropolis are not only ineffective but illogical. Like Rio, the favelas in Caracas are also located on the steep slopes of the city’s edge and are often densely built upon unstable ground. While roadways would seem the most beneficial, their realization requires the displacement of homes, and most transportation within the slums is still heavily dependent upon foot. These modular staircases ease movement down steep slopes and are much more cost efficient because of cheap fabrication costs and flexibility of implementation. With only two small structural footprints, the feasibility of implementing this system at a larger scale proves much more efficient for most and results in minimal displacement of family dwellings. The modern metropolis is heavily dependent upon mobilized transportation systems because of its increasingly decentralized physicality. Because of this, the division between the formal and informal cities has grown exponentially, leaving lower income families behind to fend for themselves on a daily basis. In Formerly Urban, Roger Sherman explains; “...the fact that the general lack of compactness of the twentieth-century metropolis is not commensurate with a lower mean population...the formerly urban is therefore a reflection of the preference for a more privatized, aleatory, disaggregated way of life: to live in one place, work in another, shop in yet a third, and so on. Enabled by the automobile and embodied in the variegated patterns and textures of suburbia, density is no longer driven by need, either for convenience or proximity, but by desire.”iii While the quote relates to a separate topic, the deterioration of former rust belt cities, it perfectly frames the dislocation of the favelas from the modern metropolis. How do
Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
lower income families who are still dependent upon the density that is continuously being dissolved survive? Quite simply, they’re barely hanging on and everyday is a struggle. Combined with the polemic toward government aid, often times the slum population feels disconnected and unwanted, especially when most projects undertaken by the government end in the relocation of hundreds of families to the outer regions of the metropolis, miles away from family and work, without the accessibility of dependent transportation. Without a doubt, there is a tremendous need for efficient transportation but trust in the government is not yet part of the equation. With hundreds of homes being demolished to make way for new infrastructure, how can the inhabitants trust that their home won’t be the next to receive the “SMH”2 marking for eviction? Another cable car system is in the construction phase in the Morro da Providência favela, Rio’s oldest and most historical settlement, as part of the port revitalization program. Local outrage ensued after 832 homes received the marking for eviction, that’s one third of the favela’s population. At the top of the settlement, sixty percent of the houses are planned to be demolished to make room for the summit station, already removing a large portion of the supposed beneficiaries. Residents are now asking themselves, who is this cable car system really for? Our transportation in and out of the city, or mega-event tourism attempting to capture true poverty with a camera lens? It’s obvious that the decision to carry out these large urban projects, instead of providing more immediate necessities such as sanitation and schooling, clearly serve as Rio’s marketability. On the surface, pacification efforts3 to clear out drug cartels and provocative new cable car systems that juxtapose their surroundings create the illusion that Brazil is in a period of social growth, when in fact urban policy heavily based
2. “SMH” is the Municipal Secretary of Habitation. When inhabitants homes were marked with “SMH” followed by a number, it meant their home was to be evacuated to destroyed. 3. Pacification is a term used by the Brazilian government meaning that the military had infiltrated the slum and had taken out as many members of the drug cartel as possible, replacing them with Police Pacification Units (UPPs) to take control of the area.
iii. Roger Sherman, Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures (New York, NY.: Princeton Architectural Press, 2013), 109. 8
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Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
on brutal force has created tension between the government and the populous. In May of 2011, a Brazilian human right group called ‘Plataforma Dhesca Brasil’ interviewed residents of the Morro da Providencia favela to investigate the forced evictions for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. A resident named Luis had this to say; “They marked my house with no explanation or information- just the mark. And they gave me until the end of the month to leave- so what am I supposed to do? How many families are facing eviction? Around 1700 families. We’re not against the (construction) project- we’re against the way it’s being done. If it’s something that’s going to improve life for my son and the community, that’s great. Why do you think this is happening? Cosmetics, make-up
Local artist Maurício Hora photographed images of the people living in homes that received the visible “SMH” marking for evacuation. “I told them, you have to show your face so they know you exist.”iV
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These projects aren’t for the community, they’re for foreigners to come see. Why don’t they build a health clinic? I’m not begging for handouts. I have my house, I am able to build my own house- I work for that. I have eight children, I’ve never had to get food assistance from the government. Every little brick you see in my house, I made myself.”V
iv. Claudio Atunes, The Port’s Discontents, Rio on Watch, May 27, 2013. June 1,2013. http://rioonwatch.org/?p=9344. v. Irina Vinniskaya, Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas: The Cost of the 2016 Olympic Games, ArchDaily, March 12, 2012. June 1, 2013. http://www.archdaily.com/214726/rio-de-janeirosfavelas-the-cost-of-the-2016-olympic-games/.
Opposite: Fig. 5 MaurÍcio Hora Rio de Janeiro, 2011 Digital Photograph on Paper Morro da Providência
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Opposite: Fig. 6 Unknown Rio de Janeiro Police Pacification Units (UPPs) in Rio Favelas Digital Photograph
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Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
Residents of the favelas contain a tremendous amount of self-pride. With minimum salaries and families to feed, it takes them years to be able to upgrade their homes. They stay in the favelas because that is where they grew up, that is where former generations grew up, and they will continue to stay because of these roots within the community. Most continue to work in order to improve the community instead of saving to move out of the favelas because they would rather help their neighbors out of pure selflessness. They fight for each other and they fight for the favelas, as they believe that no one else will do it for them. Responses to Rio’s recent pacification efforts have been mixed and it is too soon to distinguish whether these efforts will prove to be sustainable in the long term. What is clear however is that there is a divide regarding the support of these efforts. On one hand, many are relieved to see a large portion of the drug cartels withdrawn from the favelas, yet on the other hand, many have fallen victim to or have witnessed incredible amounts of violence during military occupation. It seems as though the policy of the Police Pacification Units, or UPP, has been to shoot first and ask later, with many accounts claiming that the military entered the favelas with guns ablaze. Besides fatalities, the major concern with the UPP occupation is the sudden shift in structural hierarchy. This destabilization creates a growing incertitude among the residents and in many cases, residents felt safer with drug cartels in control. The reason being the difference in complexities between formal and informal forms of “law enforcement.� Most residents are unaware of legal limitations and even their own rights as citizens. With drug cartels on the other hand, local legislation is much more black and white.
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In 2007, on the night before Rio was to host the Pan American Games, the State Military Police of Rio de Janeiro, or PMERJ, stormed the Complexo do Alemão killing at least forty people. During the three week occupation of the PMERJ it was also rumored that the local drug cartel were paid as a peace offering for the remainder of the Pan American Games. It is clear that the strategy taken during those games wasn’t sustainable as Rio has found itself in a similar situation with the upcoming 2014 Football World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Many are uncertain that the UPP will continue to have a presence in the favelas once these mega-events conclude proving that the social infrastructure within the favelas may be more fragile and at risk than the built. In order for the social infrastructure to gain stability, there needs to be further investment within the favelas that doesn’t involve fire power. Acupunctural strategies at a smaller scale need to be applied with the addition of schools, sanitation, health clinics, etc, establishing a basis for long-term, slow development in pursuit of cultural change. Providing transportation is only a small step, and in order for the Brazilian government to earn trust within the favelas, there needs to be aid given that doesn’t serve to market false images. Empowering the self-worth within the community will serve a greater good than establishing structural hierarchies based off of force. Connecting the informal cities with the formal fabric will not be achieved purely through physical implementation, creating a sense of community that penetrates the formalized edge-condition however will create the transformation toward achieving a homogenous population within the emergent Brazil.
Acupunctural Strategies in the Carioca Favelas
Broken City: Conflicts and Affects “The complicity of our urban facric: our cordial informality and our brutal injustices. The noise of our social structure penetrates the visual language, giving it the power of contrasts and imprecision.”
Opposite: Fig. 7 Unknown Artist Broken City: Conflicts and Affects Acrylic on Canvas MMA Rio de Janeiro
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