My new photos of one of the most beautiful skylines in Brazil, Novo Hamburgo!
 

Well... at least among cities under 300k :D

To start, today I went for a stroll to take a few photos of the construction progress of PRIME CORPORATE CENTER, a small commercial building at downtown. Yeah yeah... I am sure its nothing at all to you forumers from Chicago, NY, Shanghai, etc. But its a big deal for us highrise lovers in medium sized brazilian cities! (fyi, Novo Hamburgo is the 96th largest municipality, population wise, in Brazil)

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http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/3825/img5158.jpg

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http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4932/img5155.jpg

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http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4608/img5154d.jpg

4
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5608/pano01q.jpg

5
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5403/img5161m.jpg

I am still in doubts if the blue mirrored glass, so common nowadays, was the best solution, since at the original renders, the glass was supposed to be mirrored black.
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6350/comambugog0.png



Afterwards, I run up some hills around the city, amid residential neighborhoods, to take panoramic shots of the central part of the city, taking advantage of the beautiful end of summer day.

6 >>>>>>>>>>scroll right>>>>>>>>>>>
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/3884/panofr.jpg

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http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4245/pano02x.jpg

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http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/3847/pano03.jpg

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http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/6711/pano05.jpg


some simple (non panoramic) shots from this same stroll around the city

10
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3209/img5185v.jpg

11 - Hotel Swan Tower at background (it has a glass atrium when seen from the frontside) and closer, Porto Brasil, 2nd tallest in the city at 28 floors (again, NO laugh from you Chicagoans, New Yorkers and Shanhai... Shanghaiensis?? Shanghaiers?
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/3077/img5186.jpg

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http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9537/img5187.jpg

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http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7008/img5206x.jpg

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http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7453/img5207q.jpg

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http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5797/img5208p.jpg

16 - The catholic cathedral... in southern Brazil, due to german influence, many cities do also have lutheran churches, thus unlike most of Brazil, we do make that distinction when speaking about churches. It was recently (last year) repainted in this weird dark gray color... :sly: :sly:
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/9172/pano04.jpg


THATS IT. Sorry if you wanted more. You are welcome if you were already getting bored by this lack of 100 floors buildings :)

where are the skateboarders and shoe manufacturers?

well, most people in those highrises are involved with the shoe manufacturing industry :)

Beautiful town, really beautiful... it looks like Blumenau.
I have heard about Novo Hamburgo, I'd like to visit some day.

Thanks for sharing!!!

well I think suicide is a little drastic. I love my city, but I do love the color in your buildings.

Show us your house! :D

Great shots.

What is the material to which all that color is applied? Stucco? Raw concrete?

well... it REALLY depends.

let me show some of these buildings up close

you can see this building in several of the photos. The black areas is polished granite. The beige are fake bricks. And the white are tiles.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6391/1464661hf9.jpg



many of the colorful buildings have similar materials, lots have tiles. Some cheaper ones are covered in REBOCO and then painted.

Now... what is REBOCO? I have no idea. I typed it at Wikipedia in portuguese. The english translation was STUCCO. But then, after entering Wikipedia english Stucco page, the link to the portuguese article was for ESTUQUE... thus ESTUQUE (Stucco) and REBOCO are NOT the same thing.


with a quick google search it seems REBOCO is made of washed sand, pink sand (?) and cement. I dont know if its the same recipe for the ones who cover highrises.

I think I can explain it as a very fine type of mortar...


ok, a video is better than 1000 words
• Video Link

in this video (time lapse of construction of a building in São Paulo), you can see first the bricks among the reinforced concrete trussers/pillars, then they cover it all with reboco (becomes light gray) then they paint.
• Video Link

not painted (all covered by polished granite)
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3111/img4863s.jpg

PAINTED
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4638/img4739t.jpg

red parts are tiles. The rest is painted (this is the city hall)
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/9499/img4790v.jpg

I will post three BIG images here (just as the ones above, all of them taken by me, thats why there are no credits)

Since they are too big (if I reduce them, you cant see detail like tiles), I will only post thumbnails

all covered in tiles
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6734/img4720m.th.jpg

that central thing (probably elevator or stair shaft) covered by tiles, rest is painted
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3056/img4721x.th.jpg

blue greenish areas are tiles. White areas is some fine, acrylic paint. Building in the bottom, gray, is painted.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7814/img4722t.th.jpg

Beautiful! I love the scale of development, it fits nicely with the natural setting. Looks like a nice place to live.

BT, if you have questions about any building in particular, feel free to ask. I might very well have close up photos.

I can tell you in advance that the building with the red heliport (blagh) is all painted. And that those two tallest buildings, green and white (one is darker green and the other over the hill a lighter green color) are both all tile covered (in the building over the hill, black parts are polished granite and white might be paint, I would have to check it out)

damn, only 300k? and that level of highrise development? what's the footprint of the city? can't be very big.

I would like to own an elevator supply/repair company in Brasil!

Great photos

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-...,0.111494&z=14


but notice that to the east its connurbed with Campo Bom (60k) and Itovi (30k) to the west. And São Leopoldo (200k) to the south.

Novo Hamburgo is in the north end of the Porto Alegre metro area (4.2 million), about 35km distant from Porto Alegre.


In this shot, taken by me from a mountain some 15km north of Novo Hamburgo, its possible to see most of Porto Alegre metro. Novo Hamburgo is in the very bottom of the photo (partially hidden by a hill). The 2nd skyline you see is São Leopoldo, then you can see a few other skylines midway to the big city in the background, which is Porto Alegre.
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...NHpanoAces.jpg



So you might think "oh, its part of a metro area, thats why it has many buildings". Well... no! :)

In fact, probably the only reason it has so many buildings it is that its in the very end of the metro area and is quite independent..

If that was so, how to explain a city like Passo Fundo, almost as many buildings, only 115 thousand people, and completely isolated (no other connurbed city) some 300km distant from Porto Alegre?
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/6660857.jpg
photo by Paulo Magro

and here is Passo Fundo at GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,0.222988&z=13

Trantor, what are your elevator codes? Are they national, by state or municipality? Is there a law which requires elevators in buildings higher than a certain # of floors, etc?

I can try to discover that to you. I will send you a PM later.

he's serious about those elevators.



thanks for the info trantor... connurbed?

apparently, he is. I just exchanged PMs with him :)



well... whats the word in english when two different cities merge in their borders (so you dont know where one begins and the other ends?)

:haha:


Nice shots Trantor. Do you go to Porto Alegre often, or just stay in your city?

Beautiful city you have there, Trantor! Love the hills and the green.