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Four years after a devastating blaze wiped out the majority of its incredible 20 million-object collection, the rebuilding of Brazil’s fire-damaged National Museum has reached an important construction milestone in Rio de Janeiro. According to The Art Newspaper, local firms Velatura... View full entry
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone R, Thomas Vonier, President of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and Verena Vicentini Andreatta, Municipal Secretary of the City of Rio for Urbanism, on Friday 18 January announced that the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) will be the World Capital of Architecture for 2020. — UNESCO
The new World Capital of Architecture initiative is part of a recent partnership between UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA) and allows the designated city to host the triennial UIA World Congress. Under the theme "All the worlds. Just one world," Rio de Janeiro is expected... View full entry
Hours after an immense fire consumed the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, a crowd of protestors gathered in front of the wrecked institution on last night (3 September) to protest the financial neglect that led to its demise. The 200-year-old historical building lacked an efficient sprinkler system—a result of years of incremental budget cuts by the Brazilian government—and was quickly gutted when the blaze erupted shortly after the museum closed to visitors on Sunday (2 September). — theartnewspaper.com
Current Brazilian president Michel Temer and former president Rousseff are being blamed for a failure to properly maintain the National Museum in Rio De Janeiro after a consuming fire broke out 3 days ago. In the aftermath of the flames the museum's facade has mostly survived, yet aerial shots... View full entry
Copacabana has conjured images of beauty, sand and ocean, long before Barry Manilow was singing its praises. Capitalizing on some of the best beach-adjacent real estate north of Havana, the Emiliano Hotel enlisted the help of Oppenheim Architecture for the hotel brands new location on Rio de... View full entry
[...] Penn State landscape architecture professor Timothy Baird and architecture professor José Duarte taught a new studio that engaged students in the study of one Brazilian favela via virtual reality (VR) technology. The studio, which paired architecture students with landscape architecture students, posited VR as a proxy for expensive site visits. “Developing countries can’t always afford consultants because of the distance and difficulty to travel,” says Baird [...] — Landscape Architecture Magazine
"Duarte, who has studied informal settlements across the globe, believes in their power to model emergent patterns of more sustainable resource consumption in the developing world, and in the ability for contemporary technology to decode how they work," the Landscape Architecture Magazine writes... View full entry
The Olympics are a costly venture. In fact, they’re more like a high-stakes gamble. Countries pour money into the festivities, often going far over budget, with the hope that they’ll receive a return—either through tourist dollars or else through raising the city’s profile internationally... View full entry
Following the Olympics’ closing ceremony, and as September’s Paralympic Games continue, international attention has begun to shift to the future of Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic sites. These buildings must be built to evolve to accommodate Paralympic and future athletes, and the success of this... View full entry
Future Arena, the handball venue, will be taken apart and the pieces used to build four schools around the city, each serving 500 students. [...]
the city will turn the aquatics stadium into two community swimming centers; the media center will become a high school dorm; and the 300 acres of land on which Barra Olympic Park currently sits will go be turned over for public parks and private development.
— grist.org
More on Rio's Olympic legacy:In honor of the Olympics, French artist JR installs giant athletes in RioRio mayor admits Olympics were a “missed opportunity”, but believes the city has been unfairly portrayedThe rapid gentrification of Rio's favelas in advance of the OlympicsRio Olympics "must... View full entry
Despite reports of dangerous levels of pollution in Rio's Guanabara Bay and concerns that floating garbage could damage or slow competitors' boats, sailors at the 2016 Olympics are showing little or no fear of getting into the water [...]
Many said the dangers of sailing in Rio have been overblown and worried that the water concerns are overshadowing some of the most exciting and challenging sailing of their lives.
— Reuters
So far, the Rio Olympics seem to be going pretty well. But before they opened, a series of issues plagued the preparations. For some background, check out these links:Athletes refuse to move into Rio's Olympic Village, citing “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring”Rio... View full entry
he collapsed sailing ramp has been hauled out of the water, a Russian diplomat has heroically killed a carjacker (or maybe not), and 450,000 condoms await action in the leaky athletes village. Beset by construction problems and delays and with preparations decreed the “worst ever” by the International Olympic Committee, how is the architecture and design of the XXXI Olympiad shaping up so far? — Oliver Wainwright | the Guardian
The Olympics are in full swing. Here's how to watch them. Interest in more Olympics architecture? Check out 10 notable projects from past Olympic Games here.This month, Archinect's coverage includes a special focus on all things related to games. Check out some related articles here. View full entry
It's finally arrived: the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is tonight. Technically, the Games are already underway (soccer competitions began on August 3), but the bulk of events will take place after the ceremony. And chances are for those in the U.S., you're... View full entry
The French artist who goes by JR, known for flyposting large-scale photographs in cities around the world, has set up shop in Rio, just in time for the Olympic opening ceremony this Friday. As part of his ongoing worldwide Inside Out project, and under the invitation of the IOC, he's installed... View full entry
Special traffic regulations giving priority to athletes and VIP visitors to the Rio 2016 games have caused 20km (12.5 mile) traffic jams in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, days ahead of the opening ceremony.
Since the new dedicated Olympic lanes opened on Monday, traffic during the morning rush hour has been reduced to a crawl with average speeds of less than 15 km per hour, according to O Globo.
— the Guardian
Opening on Friday, the Rio Olympic Games aren't exactly going smoothly. Athletes are refusing to move into the apparently-incomplete Olympic Village. The city's favelas are "rapidly gentrifying", —displacing families, in the meantime. Workers are dying. Construction... View full entry
Sunday was supposed to be move-in day for many athletes, but the leader of the Australian Olympic delegation said its athletes would not be checking in because of problems with the gas, electricity and plumbing. [...]
delegations from Britain, New Zealand and other countries were experiencing similar problems in the village, which is in an area of western Rio called Barra da Tijuca.
— nytimes.com
The official start to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will go ahead on August 5, despite ongoing concerns over the spread of the Zika virus, political upheaval, economic distress, polluted competition waters, and now, questionable athlete facilities.More from the New York Times:Olympic... View full entry
“This is a missed opportunity,” Paes acknowledged. “We are not showcasing ourselves. With all these economic and political crises, with all these scandals, it is not the best moment to be in the eyes of the world. This is bad.”
But he also believes the problems are exaggerated by the press in a way that unfairly portrays Rio to the outside world...“There has never been so much transformation for poor people [in Rio]...The Olympic Games are a great inspiration to get things done.”
— The Guardian
More on Archinect:The rapid gentrification of Rio's favelas in advance of the OlympicsRio Olympics "must be postponed, moved, or both" due to Zika threat11 workers have died so far during Rio Olympic construction, audit findsWith the Rio Olympics opening in less than four months, sports federation... View full entry
