Brazil: Rio Olympics / Event as Urbanism

Instructors: Sandra Vivanco, with Christopher Roach
August 6–26, 2012

Description

The 31st Olympic Games will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. As part of their Olympic bid, Rio proposed to host the games in a number of key sites dispersed through the eastern half of the city. In accordance with a set of strategies derived from the city’s 1992 Master Plan, the sites are to be connected by a number of enhanced public transportation corridors, which together form a ring that links Rio’s sprawling northern districts to the famous beaches and wealthy neighborhoods of the south.

These sites and the associated infrastructure are being developed on a very rapid timeline to reach completion for the opening ceremonies in 2016, and while there is some doubt as to whether the Brazilians can meet this deadline, the history of Olympic host cities poses a series of broader questions as to what kind of legacy will be left for the city and people of Rio after this considerable expenditure of energy and capital and what kind of impact it will have on a set of longer-term issues facing the broader region. In other words, how can Rio avoid the “Olympic hangover” that has plagued so many host cities in recent decades?

This question becomes all the more critical in light of the fact that the city will host two other global events in the lead-up to the Olympics. In 2012, Rio will hold the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1992 UN Earth Summit and, in 2014, the World Cup. This convergence of global events in one city gives Rio an incredible opportunity, not only to polish its image on the international stage, but more importantly to use the momentum of these events to address real social, economic, and environmental challenges that face the urban mega-region.

The integration of these events into a long-term regional plan is prioritized through focusing on the transportation infrastructures being put into place across the city rather than the stadia, housing, and other high-profile amenities planned for the four Olympic sites. These infrastructures are being planned as long-term components of regional mobility and have a larger geography, affecting more areas of the city and the daily lives of ordinary citizens over a longer period of time. However, in the rush to implement them in time for the games, an enormous opportunity may be lost to utilize them as agents of urban intervention.

This studio explores how architects, landscape architects, urban designers, and other design professionals can take advantage of the blind spots in the planning of these mega-events to find new forms of agency and discover new sites for action in the urban field. After an initial week of travel and research on the conditions that are shaping the modern Brazilian metropolis, students participate in an intensive two-week charette alongside students from the host institution in São Paulo. The design problem focuses on a series of urban sites associated with the various infrastructural systems being built for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, using them as an opportunity to intervene in the city’s culturally rich but socially and economically fragmented urban landscape.

Prerequisites

Undergraduates: successful completion of Architecture Studio 4 and instructor approval.
Graduates: successful completion of Architecture Studio 2 and instructor approval

In addition all students must be in good academic, conduct, and financial standing for the 2011–12 academic year.

Course Satisfies:

For undergraduates, this course satisfies 3 units equivalent to half of an Advanced Architecture Studio, an Architecture or Studio Elective, Diversity Studies Studio, or Diversity Studies Seminar.

For graduates, this course satisfies one 3 unit open architecture elective.

Program Fee

$4,600 + $50 registration fee
Program fee includes:
3 units, hotel accommodations (shared rooms) with breakfast, local transportation, admission fees, and field trips.

Program fee does not include:
Airfare to and from Rio de Janeiro, lunch and dinner, travel insurance, medical or personal insurance (students MUST provide their own insurance).

Please make sure you read the related links in full:
Registration
Financial Aid
Passport, Visa, and Insurance
Code of Conduct

In-person registration begins on Thursday, March 1, for all summer study abroad courses. Students should register no later than Friday, March 30. If spots are available in the course after this date, students may still register as long as accommodations have not been finalized.

Enrollment is limited. Interested students should contact Sandra Vivanco right away to start the approval process for registration.

All CCA Summer Study Abroad courses (including the New Mexico and New York Studios) are coordinated by the Office of Special Programs.

Questions

Office of Special Programs
Oakland campus, Ralls 201

Nina Sadek
Dean of Special Programs
510.594.3773
nsadek@cca.edu

Carol Pitts
Assistant to the Dean of Special Programs
510.594.3732
cpitts@cca.edu