| |
|
|
Javier Alvarez
www.javieralvarezm.com
During the 1990s, workers and proletarian social movements began to break into abandoned buildings in São Paulo, Brazil. Today, there are more than 40 self-claimed organizations that "squat" in hundreds of abandoned properties. These "squats" allow homeless families, immigrants, students, and workers to find temporary housing.
On the 13 floors of the "Marconi" squat, about 400 people live in offices converted into 50 to 100 square foot rooms, in an uncertain housing situation. Within the "Marconi" squat, the notion of home (a space of emotional relationships and identity) becomes as unstable as the expectation of a steady future. Marconi is a place where life stories share the common thread of nostalgia and loss.
Several life testimonies from Marconi residents invite us to ask ourselves: how deeply we can see the problems in our cities? How do we deal with these housing issues? Who can organize a solution? Where is the real crime in all this? Who is visible and who is not? 'PREDIO' encourages dialogue about an urban crisis within the context of South American history, identity, and collective memory.
|
|
