Wonderful City, World Heritage Site as Urban Cultural Landscape and most famous destination in Brazil. In 2020 Rio de Janeiro stands one more title: the first World Capital of Architecture. The nomination was granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Union of Architects (UIA) to the host city of the 27th World Congress of Architects, to be held in July 2020 on the theme "All worlds. One World. Architecture 21".
Unique in the art of harmonizing nature and architecture, Rio brings along in its waterfront, its parks and its avenues, examples of five centuries of styles, represented by more than ten thousand conserved properties and about two thousand listed. Its population of almost seven million inhabitants use to daily live with urban landmarks that will now be shared with the whole world.
After hosting important international events in recent years, Rio takes the leading role in architecture. This title is more than a recognition of the city's architectural, historical and cultural past. It is also an opportunity to think about the future. A chance to celebrate Rio yesterday and today and also to define what you want for cities around the world. The 2020 program will include tourist, cultural, educational and scientific events throughout the city, involving not only citizens but also visitors. The City of Rio de Janeiro and the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), which work in partnership with the Rio 2020 World Capital Architecture Organizing Committee, are responsible for the calendar and host civil society initiatives through this form.
Would you like to propose an event for the Rio2020? fill out the form and submit your proposal
Jeferson Salazar - architect and urban planner, president of the Rio de Janeiro Architecture and Urbanism Council (Cau-RJ)
Before buildings and large buildings, parks, gardens, squares. The concept of city for Jeferson Salazar involves living spaces and privileges the meeting as the essence of what is urban. It is in public areas that the exercise of coexistence is performed. “Iconic buildings are representations of power, and its splendor, as well as their scale, distance the population from the real perception of the social function of the architecture and urbanism profession. This is not what I value most,” he says.
Born in Maranhão, Jeferson moved at the age of three to his maternal grandmother's house in Lins de Vasconcelos. It is in the North Zone that he recognizes the essence of the spirit of solidarity of Rio de Janeiro citizens, of welcoming. A resident of Rocha, he applies in his daily life the diversity he values in urbanism. “I recently went with my 17-year-old son to a funk ball at Méier. Why wouldn't I go? The city is the meeting place, the greatest product of human culture, and only exists through the coexistence of differences,” he says.
1 – Madureira Park – “An extremely plural place that the population appropriated. It's fantastic as a meeting place and for art, music, poetry ... An endless diversity of activities and profiles.”
2 – Cinelândia – “Cinelândia is surrounded by representative buildings that tell the history of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. It is a place of manifestations and coexistence between differences.”
3 – Sambadrome - “In addition to being beautiful, this Niemeyer project brings together many uses. It is a space for great shows at certain times, but it is also used throughout the year for education. And education is synonymous with emancipation.”
4 – Mayor Mendes de Moraes Residential Complex (Pedregulho) - “A beautiful project by architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy, a civil servant, who brings pioneering concepts. The curls of its curves accompany the land's relief and bring housing together with a very strong social conception, including incorporating spaces for common use.”
5 – “Another gift from Reidy to the city: a public space where diversity reigns. All extracts from society interact in this beautiful garden in a unique way.”
1 – Madureira Park – "An extremely plural place that the population appropriated. It's fantastic as a meeting place and for art, music, poetry ... An endless diversity of activities and profiles." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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2 – Cinelândia – "Cinelândia is surrounded by representative buildings that tell the history of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. It is a place of manifestations and coexistence between differences." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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3 – Sambadrome - "In addition to being beautiful, this Niemeyer project brings together many uses. It is a space for great shows at certain times, but it is also used throughout the year for education. And education is synonymous with emancipation." - Photo: Cezar Loureiro | Riotur
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4 – Mayor Mendes de Moraes Residential Complex (Pedregulho) - "A beautiful project by architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy, a civil servant, who brings pioneering concepts. The curls of its curves accompany the land's relief and bring housing together with a very strong social conception, including incorporating spaces for common use." - Photo: Michel Filho/Prefeitura do Rio
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5 – "Another gift from Reidy to the city: a public space where diversity reigns. All extracts from society interact in this beautiful garden in a unique way." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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Patrícya Travassos - Actress
When she was a young girl, Patrícya would often come to the old Veloso Bar in Ipanema to buy chewing gum and ice cream. In the edge of the establishment, on the corner of Prudente de Moraes and Montenegro streets, she always saw a group of older men playing guitar, drinking and singing. Years later, she realized that she witnessed meetings that became history: it was there that Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes composed Girl of Ipanema, a classic of Bossa Nova. “Besides being beautiful, Rio de Janeiro generated cultural movements that reverberated throughout the country and also around the world,” recalls the actress.
As a teenager, Patrícya - who began her career in the theater group “Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone” - discovered freedom at Pier de Ipanema, a stretch of beach that became an icon of counterculture and surfing in the 1970s. Rio de Janeiro for this girl in love has always been a mix of sea, mountain, forest, sand, waterfalls and history. “This is the city I love the most. When I was a little girl, I thought they were all like that. It took me a while to understand that nothing is like Rio de Janeiro,” says Patrícya.
1 – Lage Park – “For the love story that made that palace emerge, for the glamor of the parties, for the films recorded there, for the art school, for its spaces ... I did many practices and plays there. The beauty of this building, at the foot of the Corcovado, always deserves attention.”
2 – Botanical Garden – “To hug the trees or just to sit there, just vibrating. Even if you don't always go to the Botanical Garden, it's a pleasure to know that it exists, that it's there.”
3 – The Roads Across Tijuca Forest and Chinese View - “In which city in the world can we take a car and walk through a forest? Rio de Janeiro seen from above is wonderful, especially when we are coming down and come across Pedra da Gávea, the most beautiful mountain.”
4 – Downtown – “The historical part of the city makes us travel to the past. It is a history class that shows all the transformations Rio de Janeiro and the country have gone through. With special attention to the Municipal Theater, the Royal Portuguese Reading Office and the Colombo Bakery.”
5 – Museum of Modern Art (MAM) – “I have wonderful memories of this space, the shows I watched there, such as Raul Seixas, the practices of “Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone”, the parties. In addition, it has a beautiful architecture and is surrounded by the gardens of Burle Marx.”
1 – Lage Park – "For the love story that made that palace emerge, for the glamor of the parties, for the films recorded there, for the art school, for its spaces ... I did many practices and plays there. The beauty of this building, at the foot of the Corcovado, always deserves attention." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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2 – Botanical Garden – "To hug the trees or just to sit there, just vibrating. Even if you don't always go to the Botanical Garden, it's a pleasure to know that it exists, that it's there." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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3 – The Roads Across Tijuca Forest and Chinese View - "In which city in the world can we take a car and walk through a forest? Rio de Janeiro seen from above is wonderful, especially when we are coming down and come across Pedra da Gávea, the most beautiful mountain." - Photo: Ricardo Zerrener|Riotur
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4 – Downtown – "The historical part of the city makes us travel to the past. It is a history class that shows all the transformations Rio de Janeiro and the country have gone through. With special attention to the Municipal Theater, the Royal Portuguese Reading Office and the Colombo Bakery." - Photo: Alexandre Macieira|Riotur
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5 – Museum of Modern Art (MAM) – "I have wonderful memories of this space, the shows I watched there, such as Raul Seixas, the practices of "Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone", the parties. In addition, it has a beautiful architecture and is surrounded by the gardens of Burle Marx." - Photo: Marina Herriges | Riotur
