We continue our series “Architecture from the couch”. After Zeynep Kuban in Istanbul and Diego Baloain in Santiago de Chile, we are moving on to Brasil.
Next up is our Guiding Architects partner Sebastian Beck from ARCHIPEL* in São Paulo.
The majority of us are currently sitting in our home offices and thus have no opportunity to explore the world. So we thought we bring the world to you. For this purpose we have asked our partners from Guiding Architects a few questions about the current situation.
Read their answers here and get a few tips on how the situation is dealt with in other countries and what you can see from home.
Architecture from the couch: tips from Sebastian Beck
1. what is the situation like in your city?
We have had clear restrictions from the state government in São Paulo for four weeks. São Paulo is the state with the highest number of infections with Covid-19 in Brazil and Latin America. Most people stay at home in strict quarantine, but some people cannot follow the rules because of financial aspects and precarious housing situations. The public health system is not really well prepared for the upcoming number of infected people.
Sebastian Beck © a-tour
2. how do you look into the future?
Negative. The political, economic and financial situation was already quite difficult before Corona. The government with the current president Jair Bolsonaro does not promise anything good for the time after the Corona crisis. A terrible crisis management, full of contradictions and serious mistakes, suggests that Brazil is heading for difficult times.
Architecture from the couch: tips from Sebastian Beck
3. What could be viewed digitally in your city (museum, gallery, archive)?
Virtual visit at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo
Virtual visit at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo MASP
MASP Museu de Arte São Paulo © a-tour
4. name a positive initiative from your city, which has been created due to the current situation?
Unfortunately I could not find any positive initiative from the city. Positive activities are proposed by private initiatives. Since we have a strong architecture network in São Paulo, there are always live conferences on youtube or instagram with high participation.
5. give us 1 tip for an architecture book and/or a documentary on architecture and/or movie and/or podcast that you have enjoyed recently? Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will, Judith Schalansky, Penguin Books (I’m not sure, if we can consider it an architecture book 😉 , but maybe a book for architects in corona times…)