A futuristic tower for downtown São Paulo

Projects for towering, modern skyscrapers abound in new cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. However, when proposed for Latin American metropolises, they're often taken with some skepticism and/or criticism. In fact, they rarely materialise. And when they do, it’s not always plain sailing.

Even projects in Europe such as The Shard in London and Agbar Tower in Barcelona have love-hate relationships with their host cities. São Paulo has already seen a few megalomaniac projects proposed and this time around, it is architect, Eduardo Camarena, who proposes a highly modern "vertical city" for a gritty part of downtown São Paulo, known as Praça da Bandeira.

Though only a concept, the tower would encompass indoor public spaces, a pay per hour capsule hotel, as well as offices, theatres and a rooftop domed garden. We’re not sure if the project will ever become reality, but it's certainly an eye-catcher!

The rooftop Garden of Eduardo Camarena's project

What do you think? Would it improve São Paulo’s centro or would it be a waste of money?

VERTICAL CITY // SAO PAULO from eduardo camarena on Vimeo.

Décio Araújo and his mesmerising take on São Paulo

Décio Araújo is an architect and the author of some refreshing Instagram art. We say art, because his choice and manipulation of São Paulo images is absolutely dazzling. Geometry, symmetry, surrealism form the basis of his at times claustrophic, other times liberating, work.

He is, by trade, an architect, so as you might expect there are lots of images of buildings, façades and urban structures in general. But it is the way that Décio slices and dices them, interspersing animal forms as he goes, which really cathes the eye.

The output is a series of beautiful and abstract interpretations of a city otherwise not famed for its beauty or its visual inspiration. In this sense Décio is more than just a cool artist, he forces us to rethink São Paulo, even to rethink urbanism in general.

Be sure to catch all of his work on Istagram @dearaujo 

VIDEO: São Paulo is a Little Planet

São Paulo is a Little Planet is a short film by Idrone.tv, a pioneer in Brazilian drone filming. The company develops drones which are custom built for high quality filming from the air and include independent tilt, roll, and infinite pan functions. 

The drones they make are able to send video back to earth in real time and are operationally silent to eliminate vibrations during filming. 

Enough about the technicalities. Check out the clip below, we think it is the coolest video of São Paulo we've seen this year!

São Paulo is a Little Planet by Idrone.tv

GUEST POST: São Paulo Through the Eyes of an American: The First Impressions

After traveling to São Paulo for the first time I can say it is one of the most interesting cities in Brazil. It is a city filled with all the vibrancy of Brazilian culture as well as other international ones. It is a great place to get away from the tourist cities like Rio and Salvador and truly experience the hidden gems of a Brazilian megacity.

Before traveling to São Paulo I would say it is important to take a couple of steps to prepare. Since São Paulo is not a tourist destination, there is no guarantee that someone will speak English everywhere you go. In part my positive experience came from the fact that I took an hour each day to learn basic phrases in Portuguese. You'll be surprised how friendly the locals are if they see you took the effort to learn their language.

I would also advise others to do some research on Brazilian cultural customs. For example, as a girl the big one for me was realizing Brazilians and Americans see personal space differently. We, Americans, like 3 feet of personal space and get defensive if someone enters it uninvited. Brazilians on the other hand will hug and kiss someone they just met as their form of greeting. Keep this in mind when you think every guy is trying to pick you up because he is so close to you.Finally, contrary to what I read, most of the activities I did can be done on a budget. I stayed at a local hostel and the people were beyond friendly. It is nothing like staying in an American hostel.

Finally, contrary to what I read, most of the activities I did can be done on a budget. I stayed at a local hostel and the people were beyond friendly. It is nothing like staying in an American hostel.

Activities in Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo is a livewire, a hub of activity. The best part is since it is not a typical tourist destination prices for activity are very low, if there is any cost at all especially the feet on the ground type tourism. After all, a quality conversation with a local costs you nothing.

If you are in to dancing be sure to check out Samba Saturdays. Samba is a traditional Brazilian dance and most bars play Samba music on Saturdays. A friend told me the best place for samba was Bar Samba so I went there and I had a blast. It was amazing to see how good the locals were at dancing.

The number of quality museums in Sao Paulo is testament to how Sao Paulo is a hub of Brazilian culture. Being an art lover, my favorite museum was Museu de arte de Sao Paulo (MASP). It has the largest collection of fine art in all of Latin America. The best part about my visit was I happened to go on a Tuesday and it was free!

Another great museum is the museu Afro-Brasil. This museum gave me a deeper appreciation of the Brazilian culture and African heritage.

For fans of soccer, or futebol as it is known locally, there is the museu de futebol. No need to say Brazilians take their futebol seriously. The whole country follows the national team every 4 years during their quest for the FIFA world cup. You can always find an informal “pelada” game going on at Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo's largest green space.

The Latin American Memorial is yet another landmark Sao Paulo highlight. It is composed of several buildings all designed by legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, which are works of art themselves. The buildings include a library, a research center, and the Brazilian center of Latin American studies. I spent a few hours here soaking up the struggles of the Latin American people and it gave me a new perspective on Latin American culture.

For those on a tight budget the beautiful and creative street art throughout Sao Paulo rival some of the best museums and walking the streets is always free. If you don't want to walk you can rent a bike and utilize the over 30km of car-free bike space to get around town although, be warned, you sometimes have cars encroaching on you!

The shopping in Sao Paulo was another thing that amazed me. You won't find any retail chain stores outside of shopping centres, but you will find several markets around town that sell anything you need. I had tons of fun browsing the markets for little hand-crafted trinkets and haggling with the sellers. I was thankful I took the time to learn the language a little bit so I was able to fully experience the markets.

Food in Sao Paulo

There are a ton of great places to eat in Sao Paulo. I could fill a whole article on the different restaurants I ate. What's important is experiencing the different styles of cuisine unique to Brazil.

The first is the Padarias, which is the Brazilian version of a bakery. Locals come here to enjoy fine Brazilian pastries while enjoying locally grown coffee to get their day going.

If you want cheap and organic produce and meats to make your own meals then the CEASA is a must-visit. It is the largest food market in Latin American at 7.5 million square feet. You'll find everything your taste buds could want there.

Another dining style unique to Brazil is the churrascaria. This is similar to the concept of the American buffet. You pay a flat fee to be seated and it is all you can eat. The difference is waiters bring you the food fresh from the kitchen instead of there being a buffet table. Oh, and there’s a lot of meat!

These are just a few of the dozens of things to do in Sao Paulo. I got the sense you can visit 3 or 4 times and still experience something new about the city. I found that doing things like going to the museums and the local markets were a cheap way to enjoy the city and gave me a richer experience than visiting one of Brazil's many tourist towns.

So, learn some basic Portuguese, familiarize yourself with the differences between American and Brazilian culture, and book your flight to Sao Paulo! It truly is one of Latin America's most underrated travel destinations.


Bio: Natalya Pobedova is a travelling nomad and backpacker from beautiful Brno Czech Republic. She is 27 and makes a living as a freelance web developer to support her traveling needs. She also runs a budget flight search website for backpackers as a hobby: http://www.travelsiders.com/. She dreams of visiting Cuba and speaks Portuguese fluently. She visited 14 countries already and most of them are in Asia and Europe.

Photo of the day: Threatening yet beautiful

Post by Discovering São Paulo.

Photo of the Day: Aerial Sunset in São Paulo

Post by Discovering São Paulo.

São Paulo Street Life

If you get a chance, go check out the work of Miguel Castello. The exposition called Memórias da Rua is going on right now at Estação da Luz. Miguel`s powerful photographs portray homeless people living in São Paulo. Admission is free, the expo runs until Nov 30th and is supported by the Fundação e Instituto Justiça Solidária.

Memórias da Rua Expo
Estação da Luz
Praça da Luz, 1
http://www.estacaodaluz.org.br

Miguel Castello on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memoriasdarua

São Paulo in Statistics: 8 stats about São Paulo's overcrowded prisons

Insight Crime recently published startling new figures on prison overopulation in São Paulo highlighting institutional failures in rehabilitating prisoners and the creation of new "Carandirus", the infamous and now defunct prison which was once the largest prison in South America as well as the scene of the greatest police on prisoner massacre in modern times.

Of course it's not the first time we talk about overcrowded prisons in São Paulo but the situation is getting increasingly more serious.

Let's take a look at the numbers:

70 = percentage surplus of total inmate population above what the system can support
200 = occupancy rate at 10 of the Centros de Detenção Provisória - CDPs, supposedly temporary housing facilities for those awaiting trial
1,085 = number of prisoners who have been sentenced but for whom no space has been found yet
2,749 = the number of prisoners counted last month in the São Bernardo dos Campos CDP which has a capacity of 84.
3,808 = people being held in police stations for want of space elsewhere
R$42,213 = cost per prisoner for building new space compared to R$5,562 per child for a new nursery
215,000 = total prison population in São Paulo
R$319,000,000 = projected cost of building 9 new prisons in São Paulo

And to make matters worse, due to processing and judicial delays, prisoners are actually entering the system faster than they are being released..

The story behind René Burri’s iconic photo of São Paulo

Everyone has seen this picture before. Well, almost everyone. René Burri's iconic photograph is perhaps the most famous photo of São Paulo.

Taken in 1960, at a time when São Paulo was on a rapid rise to become one of the world’s most important industrialised cities, the black and white photograph’s timing and composition perfectly captures the both the moment and the historical period.

Burri was born in Switzerland in 1933 where he learned to play with his father’s camera. By the time he was 20, Burri was already a trained photographer of the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts and began documenting life as a cadet during his two years in military service.

Only after this did he have some contact with formal photography studios and starting his own projects. Before long he was published in French magazine Science & Vie and embarked on a trip to Paris to personally show his work to Magnum Photos.

David Seymour co-founder of Magnum was so impressed that he made Burri an associate member of the agency and arranged further assignments for him.

He soon began shooting in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America including Brazil. And it was while photographing in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1960, that Burri worked on an assignment for German magazine Praline and captured one of his most iconic images. The shot is of four shadowy businessmen walking on the rooftop of a skyscraper amid a smoke filled background, tens of stories above the busy streets below. It was a stunning, dramatical image that announced the metropolis of São Paulo's to the outside world.

Besides being iconic, the photograph has historical importance too in that it was a tipping point in Burri`s career. He shot it using an 18mm lens despite Magnum members only being allowed to shoot from 35mm to 90mm. Henri Cartier-Bresson, who had mentored Burri for many years and insisted on not using lenses below 35mm, was kept at a distance after this shot and Burri followed his own path into photography`s history books.

Burri in 2010 at the age of 81

He argued in favour of new and different photographic styles and continues to do so to this day. "Everybody now has a cell phone and can take snaps, which is great - even children," he says. "But my advice for young photographers is to go and cover things that nobody else is thinking about. Put your nose into things. Use the third eye of the camera and don't be completely dependent on Photoshop or the way other people want you to cast the world."

The economic cost of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo’s transport failures

FIRJAN (the Industry Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro) has just released data on the cost of traffic congestion in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. They estimate that together the two cities lost a staggering R$ 98 billion last year, the equivalent of 8% of the cities’ total GDP and 2% of Brazil’s GDP.

Traffic jams are part of daily life in São Paulo

This amount only takes into account lost work hours and doesn’t factor in the health impact of car fuel emissions on the general population or other indirect impacts on the economy. And yet even this conservative estimate is equivalent to the cost of building 200km of extra metro lines every single year!

In fact the amount lost yearly is bigger than the estimated budget for transport capital investment in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina combined. 

How the results will be interpreted, however, is another matter. The more congestion is seen as a problem, the more consideration is given to building extra lanes and highways thereby reinforcing the car culture. 

In a country where car ownership is increasing, local governments need to start thinking about long term solutions focused on encouraging the use of alternate transportation rather than accommodating additional cars which in turn will attract yet more vehicles onto the roads.

Check out Star Alliance's new lounge at Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport

Check out the new Star Alliance lounge which has just opened at the new T3 terminal in Guarulhos.

Following Los Angeles, Paris and Buenos Aires lounges, it is designed to be an alliance lounge rather than belonging to a specific airline.

Star Alliance hired local designers who were tasked with creating a sleek, modern atmosphere using only Brazilian materials. According to Star Alliance that meant "a very Brazilian look and feel, reflecting the strong artesian heritage of the country,"

"The use of wood, rope, natural fibres and typical ceramic finishing bring cosiness to a sophisticated interior and provides a relaxing and welcoming atmosphere to customers."

The 1350 square metre space has various seating areas divided into a variety of different sections including four shower suites, free wi-fi with wireless printing.

Now the catch; it is only open to guests flying first or business class or holders of a Star Alliance Gold card.

VIDEO: Ruan Mosca and his BMX in São Paulo

Born and raised in Porto Ferreira, São Paulo, Ruan Mosca is a local BMX rider.

He's only 18 years old but has been riding since 2007 and says he plans to do so for the rest of his life or for as long as his body allows him to.

Below is a video of Ruan filmed during week stay in São Paulo.

Ruan Mosca | SP TRIP from Bike Rules on Vimeo.

Music: MF DOOM – Guinnesses

Last day to take part in Composta São Paulo

Today is the last day to take part in Morada da Floresta’s Composta São Paulo initiative. All you have to do is sign up on the website and enter the draw to receive one of 2000 home compost boxes.

The initiative is a local government scheme aimed at reducing the 18,000 tons of rubbish generated every single day in São Paulo. Around 30% of that trash is actually organic matter and could be transformed into compost without ever leaving the home.

Successful participants will receive training on how to recycle waste which is organic in nature, how to use the compost boxes and will take part in an online community aimed at sharing best practices and experiences.

For the first 5 months of the Project, the immediate aim is to recycle 300 tons of organic material. In the medium term the strategic goal is to generate public debate and political pressure thereby increasing the number of people generating domestic compost.

Mini parks get official funding and become part of São Paulo street life

Green and accessible are not words usually associated with São Paulo but the new mini-parks planned for the city aim to make the city just that; more green and more people-focused.

The mini-parks, known as parklets have already cropped up in various areas of the city as part of Environment week last year. Fernando Haddad, the mayor, obviously took a liking to the green initiative and they are now officially part of the city planning policy by decree.

A temporary parklet, part of Environment week 2013

Parklets were conceived in San Francisco in 2010 as a way of creating greener cities. They are essentially tiny parks, the size of a fraction of a car parking space. It is a flexible concept which can but does not have to include items such as benches, trees, chairs or bike stands.

Gaining in popularity worldwide they have started to appear in various parts of the world over recent years but São Paulo will be the largest city to officially adopt them.

Jamie Oliver to open new restaurant in São Paulo

Jamie Oliver, the famous British chef, is planning on opening a new restaurant in São Paulo by the end of the year, his first opening in Latin America. The owner of Fifteen is probably more famous in the UK for his school dinner’s campaign than for his actual restaurants but that won`t stop him taking on São Paulo.

He will however, need to hire a better public relations team. His first public declarations were an attack on the country’s favourite sweet the brigadeiro.  Branded “too sweet” and “horrible” he immediately provoked a backlash from Brazilian chefs and food critics who accused him of misunderstanding the local food culture. Oh dear. 

Jamie Oliver, not a fan of sweet food

At least he has the advantage of not being a household name in Brazil so it will probably be quickly forgotten. In any case let’s hope he doesn’t make any more gaffes before opening “Jamie’s Italian” in Bixiga. No, wait, in Itaim.

Is the oldest man in the world living in São Paulo?

Jose Aguinelo dos Santos

He has no children, smokes cigarettes by the packet and lives in a home for the poor in São Paulo. Jose Aguinelo dos Santos is in many ways an unremarkable man. Until you see his national identity card.

According to the document he was born on the 7th July 1888, which if verified would make him the world’s oldest man. That’s the claim being made by Vila Vicentina, the São Paulo institution where dos Santos is a resident.

Photo: Alan Schneider

Despite his age and his smoking he shows no major health problems and is able to walk ably. He doesn’t have high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure. The only medicine he takes are vitamins and a tablet to give him an appetite, which can be lost with old age.

According to the staff at Vila Vicentina he is not much of a talker but he remembers a slave compound in Pedra Branca in the state of Ceara, where he is thought to have been born. Slavery having been officially, if not practically, abolished 2 months before his age, dos Santos is said to be the son of freed Afro-Brazilian slaves.

He was one of six children living in a community of freed slaves where there were no beds. Later in his life Jose worked as a manual labourer on a coffee plantation in the São Paulo town of Bauru.

Photo: Alan Schneider

The current oldest person in the world is 116 year old Misao Okawa of Japan. Jose dos Santos, if verified, would smash the record by 10 years and be an unusual example of a man reaching such an advanced age, most people reaching those ages being women.

The old people's home now proposes to definitively prove that he is the world's oldest man by using 'Carbon-14' dating techinques.