Archinect - News

Oscar Niemeyer’s masterworks become the backdrop of Pro-Bolsonaro violence in Brazil

2023-01-09T13:26:00-05:00

At least 1,200 protesters were detained for questioning in the wake of the storming of Brazil’s capital buildings, a spokesman for the civil police said on Monday, as the authorities began dismantling the tent city where supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former president, had been camping out since he lost October’s election.

Among the buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer reported to be damaged are the Palácio do Planalto (Presidential Palace), National Congress building, and the Supreme Court, which several outlets reported were the primary target of protesters that had camped out in the capital for weeks following the disputed election.

Commentary and videos on social media showed rioters smashing windows and surmounting the roof of the Congressional building, where they unfurled an appeal to Brazil's military to stage an intervention.

The Planalto Palace, considered an architectural jewel by late Oscar Niemeyer and home to .@LulaOficial, is being destroyed by deranged Bolsonaro followers, mockingly known in #Brazil as “Bolsominions” pic.twitter.com/s9HZtnLM6S
— Robert Valencia (@rvalentwit) January 8, 2023 Assault on presidential palace, congress challenges Brazil’s democracy — Oscar Niemeyer’s modernism as stage for right wing insurrection https://t.co/gUffN1aWko
— Carolina A. Miranda @cmonstah@mast...

Controversial GSAPP lecture by Bjarke Ingels available online once again

2020-05-15T16:07:00-04:00

A much-anticipated lecture delivered by Bjarke Ingels at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) is now available for online viewing.

In the wide-ranging, nearly two-hour presentation, Ingels, founding partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), discusses a variety of the firm's most recent projects, including projects for NOMA restaurant in Copenhagen, a recent collaboration between BIG and Toyota, the controversial "Masterplanet" global master planning project, and even, Ingels's recent efforts to garner new work from Brazil's authoritarian regime.

Ingels's lecture is followed by a Q+A session with GSAPP Dean Amale Andraos and GSAPP students. The lecture, which took place January 27, 2020, was initially published to the GSAPP website but was subsequently taken down. It is now available once again on the school's website and on YouTube.

Bjarke Ingels issues statement explaining meeting with Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro

2020-01-23T14:39:00-05:00

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has released a statement explaining his reasoning behind the decision to meet with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro last week.

In the statement, Ingels, founder and creative partner at the multi-national architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), explains that his decision to meet with Brazilian officials was aimed at avoiding "oversimplification of a complex world" while also pushing for "active engagement, not superficial clickbait or ignorance" in terms of the work the firm undertakes. The meeting with Bolsonaro, Ingels explains, came as part of a larger research mission undertaken with the sustainable tourism developer Nomade Group aimed at investigating the possibility of bringing green tourism initiatives to the northeast coast of Brazil.

Using data visualization to understand the Amazon rainforest fires

2019-08-23T16:00:00-04:00

For the past few weeks, the media has slowly increased its coverage of the devastating fires being intentionally set in the Amazon rainforest. Besides the politically charged issues and highly questionable leadership in Brazil, matters like this can quickly become headline news that leaves people 'social media-aware' but not necessarily informed.

For starters, forest fires in the Amazon are not uncommon and often related to seasonal temperature and weather fluctuations. However, these particular fires are due to intentional land-clearing methods employed by loggers and farmers rallied by the Brazilian president President Jair Bolsonaro and his pro-business agenda. His blatant aggression against indigenous rights, environmental conservation, and concern for sustainable practices has put Brazil and the rest of the world in a difficult position.

Increased deforestation efforts by the Bolsonaro administration have been propelled by a desire for promoting development and agriculture thr...

Smoke from burning Amazon rainforest drops São Paulo into sudden darkness

2019-08-20T19:29:00-04:00

In the height of daytime, the sky suddenly blackened, and day became night in Sao Paulo. Sure, smog is bad in the Western Hemisphere’s largest city, where traffic jams can stretch for dozens of miles. But not this bad. What was going on? Was the end near?

A combination of meteorological events paired with smoke that had traveled hundreds of miles from intense forest fires in remote parts of the Amazon caused a period of sudden midday darkness in the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere on Monday, reports The Washington Post.

Meanwhile on Twitter, #PrayforAmazonia emerged as a trending hashtag, channeling the global outrage over the lack of media coverage and political action towards the vast forest fires which have been raging in the drought-stricken Amazon rainforest region of Brazil for more than two weeks now.

Fires are burning across central South America. Yesterday #NOAA20's OMPS instrument detected the aerosol index - an index that detects the presence of particles like soot and dust in the atmosphere - in the vicinity of the fires. This can help inform air quality forecasts. https://t.co/lCMwTqWxtA
— Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) (@JPSSProgram) August 19, 2019

Much of the blame for the lack of disaster response i...