Beautiful houses, classy highrises and MORMON TEMPLES!! A stroll around Porto Alegre!

[Trantor]

fuck it. I will never post again a thread on the City Photos section of Skyscraperpage. Out of 16 replies, 11 were my own, trying to keep the thread from going to page 20.

Its not worth all the work of selecting pics, taking pics, adding comments, etc.

If people here only care about USA and Canadian cities, so be it. I wont bother anymore.

[dimondpark]

excellent pics.

I love Porto Alegre.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by Trantor

fuck it. I will never post again a thread on the City Photos section of Skyscraperpage. Out of 16 replies, 11 were my own, trying to keep the thread from going to page 20.

Its not worth all the work of selecting pics, taking pics, adding comments, etc.

If people here only care about USA and Canadian cities, so be it. I wont bother anymore.

Well, I for one really appreciate your posts here, and I really love seeing Brazilia cities. Please don't stop posting.

[Trantor]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Well, I for one really appreciate your posts here, and I really love seeing Brazilia cities. Please don't stop posting.

I know pal. But its seems it always the same ones that visit my threads. And I am indeed thankful for you guys. But as you can see, this thread was posted almost 20 days ago, and most of the replies were MINE to keep the thread around the first page.

Even worse... the lack of the search function. You could very well search for TRANTOR threads before, to check out any interesting thread from me. But now I must constantly police my own threads because usually they go to page two with zero replies... then I bump it and one more reply... two days later one more bump, one more reply... aww, it sucks.

I dont want a 10 pages long thread... if some 30 difrferent people replied, I would be MORE than happy...

[RustNeverSleeps]

Your threads are among the most entertaining ones on this forum, Trantor. I'm sure lots of other people enjoy them too.

It's always cool to see brazilian cities, they seem to have a very laid back and relaxing atmosphere.

[davidz]

Trantor: thank you for showing us these photos of Porto Alegra -which describe what appears to be a new city of some wealth. Living in high rise buildings appears to be very popular in Brazil.Can you tell us what is happeng in the inner city? Is historic preservation an active movement? Who lives in the inner city? Where are the universities and how does the concentration of students affect these areas? Finally, among the larger cities of Brazil, are there architectural variations or distinctions-ie when we look again at these photos, is there anything that says Porto Alegre that we would not expect to see in posts of BH or SP?

Thank you for this post and for any responce that you care to make

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by davidz

Trantor: thank you for showing us these photos of Porto Alegra -which describe what appears to be a new city of some wealth. Living in high rise buildings appears to be very popular in Brazil.Can you tell us what is happeng in the inner city? Is historic preservation an active movement? Who lives in the inner city? Where are the universities and how does the concentration of students affect these areas? Finally, among the larger cities of Brazil, are there architectural variations or distinctions-ie when we look again at these photos, is there anything that says Porto Alegre that we would not expect to see in posts of BH or SP?

Thank you for this post and for any responce that you care to make

In Brazil, the inner cities are inhabited by the wealthy and middle class. Every major brazilian downtown Ive ever been to(Rio and SP included) has been bustling and exciting far beyond any comparable degree by the vast majority of North American cities.

Ive found the difference between Porto Alegre and SP/Rio is sorta like Boston compared to NY or SF compared to LA. Porto Alegre is known for its higher then average quality of life and the residents of Porto Alegre are among the most highly educated in Latin America.

[dktshb]

Very nice. There are parts of LA that look quite similar.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by Trantor

I know pal. But its seems it always the same ones that visit my threads. And I am indeed thankful for you guys. But as you can see, this thread was posted almost 20 days ago, and most of the replies were MINE to keep the thread around the first page.

Even worse... the lack of the search function. You could very well search for TRANTOR threads before, to check out any interesting thread from me. But now I must constantly police my own threads because usually they go to page two with zero replies... then I bump it and one more reply... two days later one more bump, one more reply... aww, it sucks.

I dont want a 10 pages long thread... if some 30 difrferent people replied, I would be MORE than happy...

Hang in there Trantor,

This is my first visit and I will be back. Your Pic's are a Huge education!!!! I am now inspired to also post at this forum.

[roner]

I enjoyed it. I also appreciate the visits to other countries, thanks.

[Hoodrat]

supa nice

great to see, interesting mix of styles

[bgwah]

Great pics, I love the mid-rise neighborhood(s), especially the concrete buildings with trees growing on the balconies.

[delts145]

Also some really intricate colonial-era facades downtown. Very nice!

[A-town]

Love the houses and all the details that go into the buildings and some of the newer modern lowrise buildings. I also notice that most of the houses are behind gates.......talk about living in a world of fear.

[Trantor]

Originally Posted by delts145

Also some really intricate colonial-era facades downtown. Very nice!

ah, actually, the colonial era in Brazil ended long before such buildings were built

Originally Posted by A-town

I also notice that most of the houses are behind gates.......talk about living in a world of fear.

I would love to say "shut up dude", but you are completely correct about that
20 years ago, all houses in Brazil would be completely free of fences...

Originally Posted by roner

I enjoyed it. I also appreciate the visits to other countries, thanks.

thanks Roner. Its great to see new faces exploring my threads. Its a huge incentive when your thread gets some 20 replies at least, specially when people make interesting comments or questions.

Originally Posted by davidz

Trantor: thank you for showing us these photos of Porto Alegre -which describe what appears to be a new city of some wealth.

The city is not old, but its not new either. Well, its new compared to Rome or London Porto Alegre was founded around 1760... but it officially became a city in 1809.

This is Porto Alegre in the XIX century


1880


1910


1918


1930


Graff Zeppelin over Porto Alegre in 1934


1939


1940


1945


1940


1955


50s

Living in high rise buildings appears to be very popular in Brazil.Can you tell us what is happeng in the inner city?

Yes, high-rise building is popular in Brazil. The reasons are difficult to pinpoint. While in many places, fear of violence makes people go to highrises (where there is much more security than in houses), that doesnt explain the phenomen in every brazilian city... there are very safe cities with lots of highrises also!

Is historic preservation an active movement?

Yes and no. Its not common to demolish old buildings and highrises in Brazil, but many old buildings in downtowns arent being preserved... they are just there... you know? In Skyscrapercity forum, there are some brazilian forumers from São Paulo who are active people in a movement for the preservation of historical architecture in São Paulo. They were even able to impeach the demolishing of an old hotel in the city.

Who lives in the inner city?

Inner cities are actually a problem in Brazil. For some reason, brazilians dont demolish their highrises. SO the DOWNTOWNS actually have too many old buildings. And the new highrises are simply built somewhere else in the city. In São Paulo, there was old downtown, then Paulista Avenue and now the modern highrises are built in the Berrini/Nações Unidas area. In Porto Alegre, new commercial developments are built in 3rd Perimetral Avenue (about3.5 km away from downtown), in the Iguatemi area (some 4.5 km away from downtown), and other places. The downtown itself sees VERY LITTLE construction. Its clogged with old buildings which people and companies are not interested in renting/owning anymore. Most were never reformed to attend the 21st century quality standarts a company expects.

As a result, the downtowns are busy but they are not frequented by the highest class or better companies. They are full of services, government companies... inumerous stores (low/middle class... nothing fancy) and many small companies.

But I am talking about DOWNTOWN, which has a different meaning of "inner city", specially because its sometimes difficult to pinpoint whats inner city in Brazil, since there are highrises/midrises everywhere, and the density is also big everywhere.

Where are the universities and how does the concentration of students affect these areas?

UFRGS, the federal free university (and better university in the state) is next to downtown. But it doesnt have a campi, but rather, several buildings spread around the downtown perimeter.

PUC has a campus, but its kinda far away from the hotspots of Porto Alegre´s night. There are other smaller universities in the city. I dont think they affect their areas too much. But they do affect the entire city, which attracts young people from all over state for a long time, and these people tend to settle in Porto Alegre or in its metro area, after they graduate. Nightlife is pretty good, but also very spread out. Cidade Baixa neighborhood is more alternative scene, also rockers. Moinhos de Ventos neighborhood has more classy places, cafes, bars and classy pubs. Iguatemi area has some big nightclubs. Bonfim area has some places for clubbers.

Finally, among the larger cities of Brazil, are there architectural variations or distinctions-ie when we look again at these photos, is there anything that says Porto Alegre that we would not expect to see in posts of BH or SP?

Well, something. But I dont think there is HUGE architectural variation between these cities. Porto Alegre has some more european feel... more like Buenos Aires or Montevideo than other brazilian cities.

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by Trantor

fuck it. I will never post again a thread on the City Photos section of Skyscraperpage. Out of 16 replies, 11 were my own, trying to keep the thread from going to page 20.

Its not worth all the work of selecting pics, taking pics, adding comments, etc.

If people here only care about USA and Canadian cities, so be it. I wont bother anymore.

Aww, don't say that, Trantor. You know I like your forums and appreciate Brazilian architecture and landscaping in the cities you show. Let everyone else masturbate over grit in Cincinatti and Saint Louis - I'll always enjoy seeing Brazil!

[Trantor]

Originally Posted by crisp444

Aww, don't say that, Trantor. You know I like your forums and appreciate Brazilian architecture and landscaping in the cities you show. Let everyone else masturbate over grit in Cincinatti and Saint Louis - I'll always enjoy seeing Brazil!

after all these replies I regained my will to post

Crisp, I see often many americans comparing brazilian cities (Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte) to Los Angeles!! Why is that?? The urbanity of such cities seem so different to me!

You dont even see residential hirises in Los Angeles (almost)... the downtown is very concentrated and the rest is sprawl...

Since you know both, maybe you can elaborate on that?

[crisp444]

Well, the reason Americans compare Brazilian cities to American ones like Los Angeles and Miami is because people generally like to draw generalizations and comparisons/contrasts in order to learn about a place. I would agree that Porto Alegre is not really like Los Angeles. However, there are many residential highrises in downtown Los Angeles and outside of downtown, specifically on the Wilshire Boulevard corredor. Los Angeles is the most dense metropolitan area in the United States and there are many very dense areas outside downtown. Although they may be car dominated, one still has the option to take the bus and subway in a variety of neighborhoods both in and outside of the city of Los Angeles itself.

When people bash American "sprawl," they often post pictures of large, identical homes in lots with no fences and no trees. It is monotonous and boring. However, much of "sprawl" in Los Angeles is made up of modest-sized Spanish-style homes in dense neighborhoods with palm trees and flowers lining the street (much like in Brazil). There is a lot of variety in architecture and design there... on the main streets there tend to be "horizontal condiminium" style (like you call it) townhomes and apartments that are 3-5 stories tall (sometimes more) and on the side streets there are single family homes. Most photo threads of Los Angeles on this forum do not seem to capture the beauty of some of these residential neighborhoods and skip them in favor of downtown pictures, Hollywood pictures, and aerial photos and panoramas.

I actually wish more residential areas in the urban US looked like those in Brazil. Although the US has many, many, many healthy and vibrant urban areas (I live in one in Boston where I walk to everything I need), it also has its fair share of urban ugliness, monotony, and uncleanliness. Many American "inner city" areas are embarrasingly undense when compared to Brazil, and it seems that in many US cities, planners are not very concerned with landscaping in the form of tree canopies, sidewalk plantings, and flowers. In general, it seems that there is so much more color in the Brazilian urban landscape than in the US one, and I admire that. Please keep posting pictures of this, and let me know if you want to keep discussing this.

[fountainhead]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. I can't tell you how much I love the old cores of South American cities. A question however, in the "downtown" section, the house with the "Estamos Preparando" sign, are they going to renovate it or tear it down? Hopefully the former as it would be a great loss to be replaced with yet another angular early 80'sesque highrise. I have to agree with the comment that the detached houses look very American. They also look to have been overly renovated to a point of blandness. There is something a little textbook and washed out about them.

[Trantor]

the house with the "Estamos Preparando" (We are Preparing) is going to be renovated for an architectural exposition. CASA COR is an architectural exposition, where several rooms of some selected building are modelled/redesigned by selected architects, each on their own style. Its something made for other architects, architecture magazines as well as normal people, to see the lastest house furnishing/decoration styles.

There is another similar house some blocks away that they teared down the inside and conserved only the façade, and they are going to build a new modern building inside/above it... if I am not mistaken something similar to what happened to a building in NY which received a Norman Foster glassy skyscraper inside its old façade. Of course, I dont think they will build a skyscraper in Porto Alegre...