I cried. When England suffered that tragic defeat at the hands of Uruguay, my usual, calm demeanour dismantled, revealing a grovelling wreck of a man. The quivering chin, the insincere exclamations of “its just a game”, flooded out my mouth as if I was in a dazed trance of sorts (self-hypnosis is a well-practiced skill amongst fans in denial).
At first, those cheesy Suarez memes that flooded the twitosphere the day after, gradually alleviated my disappointment and I joined in with the casual ‘lols’, but soon enough, I grew to resent those silly photo-shopped pictures and every retweet-craving, happy-go-lucky so-and-so that created one. My blase attitude turned into bitterness, anger…the 5 stages of grief (minus the fifth). I beamed a smile to the world yet secretly, I vowed to avoid all things Brazil, until I remembered that life is too short and to deny myself of all the great things Brazil had to offer, would be nothing short of mind-numbingly stupid.
So I rebooted. I ejected the depression disc, inserted the positivity one and repeated a jolly mantra in my head as I planned my next trip to Brazil. Here’s a quirky list I constructed of intriguing houses during my research.
Favelas
The favelas (ghettos) of Brazil are internationally known, mostly due to media attention. Collectively, those living in them make up 6% of Brazils population; thats a whopping 11.4 million people! Favelas are generally overpopulated and can be built from brick, wood, scrap metal…pretty much anything. In the run up to the World Cup, the Brazilian government initiated a police crackdown to remove criminals from the favelas making them less dangerous but more tense for ordinary citizens there.
image source: http://www.rioonwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/1990-Rocinha.jpg
Othon Palace Hotel
The once luxurious hotel was founded in 1954 and attracted high-profile guests such as Queen Elizabeth II (1968). However, in 2008 it closed due to financial issues. Three years later, an organisation called the Homeless Workers Movement moved in, followed by a multitude of other refugees in need of a home. Unfortunately, in 2013, the refugees were evicted by the authorities in order to build infrastructure for this years World Cup. I can’t tell you what it looks like inside, but from the outside it looks rather spiffy.
image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Othon_Palace_Hotel_-_by_Lucas.JPG
The Garden House in Brazil by David Guerra
There isn’t much to say with this one, it’s utterly gorgeous. It looks so quaint yet so contemporary. See how those lights just sparkle?
image source: http://www.contemporist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/gh_290311_02-630×420.jpg
The MP Quinta da Baronesa by Studio Arthur Casas
This house is hands down a delectable treat to behold. Its open plan design makes the interior look very spacious and gives it that quintessential modern touch. The large windows are also favourable as they allow for a generous amount of natural light (no massive light bills yay!).
Luxury Estates
Well if you’re a wealthy individual, a luxury home in Rio is as normal as a cold glass of milk. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t, so it is somewhat unusual to the average Joe.
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