The Belly of the Plane and Beyond...
Loyal Readers,
I know it's been a while, but I needed some space, some time away, room to think, you know? It's not you, it's me...
But, in that time we've been up to a lot, landing in Brasil, a long bus journey to the coast, some beaches, monkeys and even a haircut. Let's get the party started...
Our last night in Quito was nice and calm, and we made it out to the airport in good time for our longest internal flight yet across to Brasilia. Turns out that you can't actually fly directly between these two neighbouring capitals, and our route took us through the night stopping in Lima and Sao Paolo before arriving in Brasilia on the 16th, 
having spent more time in airports than in the air. The airport was our first taste of the 'big vision' architecture that we were going to dose up on in the next couple of days - concrete and red-painted spaceframes, upturned soupbowls, and big bold shapes. There isn't a single hostel you can book online (that we found), so we put ourselves in the hands of the local info kiosk, who helpfully rang around a few before pointing us in the direction of the Hotel Byblos, a completely whacky building in the pic to the left.
having spent more time in airports than in the air. The airport was our first taste of the 'big vision' architecture that we were going to dose up on in the next couple of days - concrete and red-painted spaceframes, upturned soupbowls, and big bold shapes. There isn't a single hostel you can book online (that we found), so we put ourselves in the hands of the local info kiosk, who helpfully rang around a few before pointing us in the direction of the Hotel Byblos, a completely whacky building in the pic to the left.If you're bemused by our choice to come to this rarely visited capital, it's a bit of an architectural pilgrimage for me. The city of Brasilia is well-studied among architects and urban designers, being fully planned in 1958 by Lucio Costo with the principal architect being the famous Oscar Niemeyer. There are few examples of such a grand gesture (there's good reason for this too!), Milton Keynes springs to mind as a place showing why it's not necessarily a popular idea... The entire city is laid out like an airplane, the 'wings' being mostly the residential superblocks, and the 'body' housing the federal & national government buildings. There are specified areas for every use, meaning there's very little mixing of different functions. It seemed like a good idea at the time...
Our room was basic, half underground, and expensive. We were in SHN: Sector Hotel North. All the addresses here are formed in a string of acronyms, standing for the sector, the quadrant, block, and building number. There's very little romance in whispering to an admirer, "meet me at SCRN 708/709 Bl E, s/n - lj 26, and don't be late"...Still, we were very happy to be there, and set about working out how to see the damn place. In true Archbold/Simkiss fashion it started raining soon after we arrived, not stopping until we left the city limits a few days later. We took a turn up to the TV tower, a 220m structure on the central axis, to find it closing just as we joined the line. It didn't take us long to appreciate just how vehicle-centric the ideals of the planners were. The distances between anything are vast, and due to the rigorous adherence to the layout of the separate uses, it's a long trip to buy something as simple as a bottle of water.
Our first day washed out, we took a well earned rest after all the travel and decided to give a city tour a crack, the following day. We made it up the TV tower this time, for stunning views over the city, but the promised tourist info centre there simply didn't exist. As luck would have it we were able to book a tour from our hotel, and set off at 2pm for a guided trip around the main buildings. I'm not going to turn this into a lengthy architect's only post, I'll save that for a slide session over some Glenfiddich back in the motherland, but have to post just a few pics of the real highlights. The first of these was the Sanctuario Dom Bosco, a severe concrete building from the outside, but sublimely lit with blue glass within. The first real 'deep breath' moment for this little bald architect so far.
We took in as much as we could, notching up all the big sights and buildings; Niemeyer's cathedral, the Congresso, JK Bridge, the National Library, Cultural Complex of the Republic, the ministry buildings, pretty much the whole kit and kaboodle. There's a lot to see there, and we visited again on the second day to take in the interior of the cathedral, and try to visit the Congresso. Would have been nice if someone had told me that you can't enter if you're wearing shorts, but hey, I'll be back here again shortly...
The interior of the cathedral was truly spectacular. You enter down a ramp, passing under the moat that surrounds the building, so the floor is subterranean. Once inside the dome you are washed with the light from the stained glass, which you can't really see from the outside, except of course at night when it's lit internally. I don't know that everyone would like it, the colours are bright, almost garish, and it's not as slick or rich as the lovely subterranean church in Finland, but I liked it a lot.
After our second day of visiting we were ready to move on, it's a real challenge even getting around the city. We dined a couple of times in the local mall, the only place where you can do several things without having to walk for several kilometers, pondered what a strange place this is. There is so much unused/-able space, carefully planned out to be green parks and beautiful curlicues for vehicle ramps. But, people have a nasty habit of actually 'using' space, and tend to populate this with stalls, sleeping, or just garbage. The revered Jane Jacobs would have been waving her finger with a satisfied, "told you so!" I'm sure...
I'm really glad I saw the place. The planning of the city baffles me, inorganic, inflexible, resistant to growth (planned for 500,000 people, now groaning under the weight of 2 million), and very difficult if you don't have a car. But, the individual buildings are really amazing and almost everything I imagined from when I first saw them in textbooks at school. Except - up close, like a lot of famous modernist work - they're just a little bit dirtier and cracked than you remember them... Strange strange place, be very careful, architects.
Twas a 24hr bus ride out of town, taking us 1,500km east to the coastal town of Salvador, in the famous province of Bahia. We had a room, a supermarket across the road, and even a guide in the form of Rob and Carlos' friend Fausto. After some messing around with communications, we got in touch with him and he took us out for drive through the city before a gargantuan cauldron of moqueca by the sea. Credit to Fausto, he really loves his city and we loved the chance to meet him and be shown around by him. Really hope we can meet up with him again when we next swing through Salvador.
After the obligatory full day on the beach at Praia do Barra, parked under our umbrella while I read Tom Clancy (bigotted, dick-swinging rubbish, but it filled in my day), we were once again struck by the usual rain that had followed us from Brasilia. Taking this chance to hit the hammocks, we planned out trip out of town, where you find us now. On Fausto's recommendation we're now in Praia do Forte, 55km from Salvador. It's truly lovely here, very much our pace, but raining of course...
We've been to the Projecto Tamar, eaten excellent food with tamarind monkeys sitting next to us, and just plain relaxed. It's fair to say that we are just the tiniest bit jaded, with motivation a tad depleted. The main 'attractions' of our adventure are behind us, so rest and relaxation are the main priorities for now. I pampered myself with a haircut (sans beard, sans hair, sans everything), and Ana and I spent a little bit too much money last night sampling the streetscape with some caiparainhas.All is well with us, and I sure hope the same goes for the rest of you. To the architects, there's a special edition postcard on its way, and the rest of you might get one next time we're parked on the beach with, say, 6-7 hours to kill.
Tchau,
A
1 Comments:
who ever heard of a city shaped like an airplane? next they'll be making buildings shaped like giant binoculars...
niemeyer sounds amazing.
also spare a thought for jorn utzon who checked out yesterday, aged 90.
M
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