Some Facades in Copacabana

and further down, in Ipanema

Last night in Rio de Janeiro

Ipanema is super busy all day long

the crowd hangs around the beach even when the sun goes down

they use huge fluorescent floodlights

to keep using the beach

even when it's pitch blackafter Leblon, the favela with the best view twinkles in the night

SESC Pompeia

This is the amazing SESC Pompeia, another showstopper by the great Lina Bo Bardi. I'd seen this published a million times but its even better in "real".
SESC is basically Tax Deductable culture and leisure. People come to the different SESCs to see exhibition, use free internet, swimm, eat, read and hang out.

Up and Down Avenida Paulista

Avenida Paulista is the massive avenue that runs through Sao Paolo. In he Jardin area, right across from Trianon Park is the fabulous MASPI designed by Lina Bo Bardi. The horizontal volume hangs from two red column-beams, and scarily enough it appears to be slacking a little bit...
The space underneath is awesome, as were supposed to be the exhibitions spaces but unfortunately they have been remodeled
right across is the Trianon Jungle Park
in SP they use a light transparent gauze instead of the standard khaki scaffolding thing, much more elegant etc.. ths is one of the Itau Cultural buildings, right next to Sesc Paulista
Whats with all the Eiffel towers? apparently they're TV antennas
Housing
greenery
eiffel
a great pyramidal metal screen building.. at night it kind of lights up from inside

Mulher Mulheres

The space for Mulher Mulheres is almost ready. The exhibition, curated by Adelina von Furstenberg and organized by Art for the World in collaboration with the SESC network, is an evolution of the show Woman Women which opened in Florence more than a year ago. It's the first time that this ex-office space is used for an exhibition, so it was interesting to see that the spaces started to acquire an apartment quality, though that would have to be a slightly paranoid apartment.the space is realized thanks to the team of local architect Marcio Medeira. Opening 8th March, SESC Paulista, Avenida Paulista 119, Paraiso.

Day and Night: Sao Paulo

If you're in Athens tonight

Come by the Athens Conservatory where I'm speaking at the Metropolis City Debates organized by the British Council in collaboration with locus athens. The panel is called Architecture in the Arts, it also features Katherine Clarke and Liza Fior of Muf, and Elena Zabeli and Carlos Loperena of Athens-based Deca Architecture . Memos Filippidis will facilitate.

Istanbul 3

Not sure how many posts you can get out of a city, but Istanbul is definitely a spectacular place. Here's a more or less random selection of photos, even though everything is in the end related to everything.

a roof of something in Top Kapistarting to develop an obsession with all sorts of scaffolding, (very 80's of me)the trees in the Gulhane Park

from the summer pavilion of Top Kapi to the Golden Horn

some archaeological order

some urban chaos

Haydarpasa railway station, the military coming to inspect

the Armenian church

a sprawling stairway in Beyoglu

ready for takeoff in Taksim

the time is right in Dolma Basche

Notes on Istanbul II: Spaces

sometimes you don't have to write too much