Ruínas do Presente. No Porto Maravilha e No Parque Olímpico: Imagens para contar

Abstract

This PhD dissertation is a momentary critique of what urban transformations in the city of Rio de Janeiro represent, in the periods that aimed the preparations of two mega events held in a short period of time: FIFA World Cup 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympics. The metropolis’ managers tried to restore public spaces, formerly worn out, to publicize them as attractive places with their own attributes. A clear example of this strategy is the transformation of the Port of Rio de Janeiro into Porto Maravilha (FREITAS, 2017). The revitalization of the Port is a real estate project, started in 2009 as part of the Olympic megaprojects, faces problems and its success depends on a radical transformation of the space. Financial investments and their public-private partnership did not deliver the expected return. New mirrored buildings waiting its numerous rooms to be rented, hotels with low occupancy, abandoned land and desert areas. The Olympic Park, in the region that most benefited from the Olympics, Barra da Tijuca, shows signs of degradation. The Federal, the State and the City of Rio governments do not reach an understanding. The promise of these legacies is in ruins. Photographs are presented here with the intention of giving a new meaning to these places, so celebrated in the media during the Olympic Games. A photographic work that aims to tell a moment of the researched places, a period of the contemporary history. The ruins are from the present.