Helipad Views

Skies over São Paulo are among the world's busiest, with 3 airports serving the city and some of the highest numbers of helicopters offering traffic avoidance for the wealthy. Helipads therefore are plenty, and also a great access point for a bird's eye view of the city. As traffic flow mimics the body's circulation and artificial light floods the night sky, what strikes you here is the sheer power consumption of such a metropolis.  

New Metrô Colours

Linha 4 Amarela do Metrô (Metro Line 4 Yellow) is the city's newest metro line. Currently running between Luz and Butantã stations, and with stations still under construction, it features futuristic driverless trains which allow passengers a great view front or rear. The project suffered a tragedy in 2007 when, during the construction of Pinheiros station which is particularly deep, the site's tunnel collapsed pulling houses and vehicles into the hole resulting in seven deaths. Tragedy aside, the new route has drastically cut travel times for many thousands of daily commuters, myself included, and for that we're certainly thankful.

The Walking Gallery

"The Walking Gallery" are an international group of artists who have a unique way of getting their art into the public eye... they walk it around their various cities! In this case I caught up with the São Paulo branch of the gallery in the metro station of Brigadeiro, as they brought mixed expressions of surprise, bemusement and pleasure to faces of commuters. Great stuff! Information about the group can be found at: http://www.walkinggallery.com

Under Union Flags

With the wave of public demonstrations in the city continuing, a normally grey concrete setting was thrown into colour recently when various worker's unions gathered under the Museum of Art Sao Paulo, on Avenida Paulista. MASP, as it's more commonly known, is one of relatively few easily recognisable landmarks in the city due it's unusual architectural design. It stands elevated on 4 structural columns, in this instance allowing various unions (sindicatos) to gather underneath in order to demand various "melhorias", a term for better working conditions. 

The final drop!

In English we say "the straw that broke the camel's back!" In Portuguese it's "a gota d'agua", or the final drop of water. An announced public transport fare increase from R$3 to R$3.20 may not have seemed particularly significant to those looking in from outside the country, but it was "the final drop of water" for the Brazilian public already indignant at a transport system that fails to cope with demand, the billions of public money spent on football stadiums for next year's World Cup in spite of poor public hospitals and schools, and the ever-continuing political corruption. From June 2013 onwards in major cities across the nation, demonstrations of the like not seen for 20 years led to the inevitable minority who left burning cars, buses etc. in their wake. After an initially defiant stance, the government were eventually forced to pour water on the flames, so to speak, by scraping the intended fare rise. 

Fortune's Fools?

As time and the world marches on (or a bus rolls by as in this case) there are always those who are left by the wayside. This city certainly isn't lacking in those who have given in to substance abuse, cachaca (a cheaply available & potent alcoholic drink derived from sugar cane), mental illness, misfortune, or various combinations thereof. In fact, "Cracolândia", or "Crackland", is an area where crack addicts, including children & pregnant women, converge to get high through the night & the streets become reminiscent of zombie movie sets. Social workers & church volunteers attempt to pull addicts out of their magnetic world, while experimental visitors from other states & even countries often become entrapped. Whether fortune's fools or mearly foolish, these are the residents of the darkest side of the city.

Men At Work

In this city of momentum, they couldn't put enough reflectors on me to do this job! Just stand in the middle of Avenida Faria Lima, one of the busiest avenues in the city, and direct traffic... You see that bicycle up against the lamp-post? That would be my exit strategy...