BRIC POP: The Blog

Sometimes, you go somewhere not expecting much, and it turns out to stick with you long after you left. Curitiba was like that for me in Brazil.

Three of my seven Brazil chapters were inspired by two short days in the Paranaense capital. I got better acquainted with Oscar Niemeyer, whom I already admired, at the terrific Museo there, but I also was struck by the many urban planning projects that were initiated in the late 60s by architect-turned-mayor Jaime Lerner.

Every city should elect an architect, for Mr. Lerner’s Curitiba turned the main street, Rua de XV Novembre, into a lively pedestrian mall, encouraged a city complex filled with beautiful Modernist buildings for everyday use, and developed a really unique bus system where passengers board through sliding subway-like doors after entering a waiting tube.

It was also in Curitiba that I realized that Brazilian Rock was more than just an 80s blip of good bands and music that I liked. The streets of Curitiba are headbanger central, where everyone has a guitar solo just waiting to come out. It was this juxtapostion of content and culture that made BRock a must for me. While they play more funk than rock, Bonde do Role embodies that punky, bratty, fun rocker attitude of Curitiba.

Third was graffiti. I had already seen and been impressed by São Paulo’s street art. What I noticed in Curitiba was the emergence of different styles for different cities and the direct creative continuum between municipally-commissioned works and spontaneous street art. It’s easy for anyone to love graffiti when it looks like Brazil’s.