Marcio Oliveira

Brasilia est peut-être la seule ville où une voie express soit l`artère principale de la zone résidentielle: c'est l'expression parfait de l'ère de l'auto." E. N. Bacon, 1967. Contents: Introduction The Street Redefined The South Wing's Axial-Expressway The Underground Passageways Concluding Remarks References 1. Introduction Brasilia is almost 50 years old. Erected in record setting time of three years (1957-60), the city was planned in relation to Brazil's need to conquer physically, culturally and economically its own continent sized countryside. The young Brazilian capital is undoubtedly the most clear example of the ideals of `modernization' relentlessly pursued by Latin American countries during the first part of this century. This utopian city, though, was built to be more than merely the symbol of the so called "modern age". Rather, Brasilia realized one of the modern architecture's fundamental planning objectives: to red

Brasilia: living within modernist standards by: Marcio N. de Oliveira (originally written in 98 for Maquis, my old Geocities homepage) Introduction: Latin American countries have always pursued a sense of urban utopia. Nowhere else have modernistic urban theories, above all Le Corbusier's, controlled the minds of practicing architects and urban designers as much as in Latin America and specially Brazil. Brasilia was designed according to them and quite clearly exemplifies the shortcoming of such urban theories. Erected in record setting time of three years (1957-60), the city was planned in relation to Brazil's need to conquer physically, culturally and economically its own continent sized countryside. With this short essay I intend to show one view, the one of a natural Brasiliense , born and raised in Brasilia, living the daily life within modernist standards. Superquadras and Apartment Blocks: In Brasilia's urban landscape the central city was made up of two dense res

by Marcio Oliveira (originally written in 98 for Maquis, a Geocities homepage I used to keep) After the First World War the echoes of the European cultural production started to arrive at Brazilian shores with somewhat increased intensity. The European influence reached its highest point in 1922, when the 'week of modern art' was held in São Paulo, with exhibits of paintings, sculptures, literature, theater, etc. To this date the week of 22 remains as the most preeminent manifestation of the introduction of the avant garde movement into the Brazilian cultural production. For its architectural portion, this important period culminated in 1929 with the construction of the first 'modernist' house designed by the Russian immigrant Gregory Warchavchik in São Paulo. The Brazilian architectural movement was decisively influenced by its European counterpart during the 1929 visit made by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, in which he lec

by Marcio Oliveira. Aug. 2009 The healthcare sector continues to be a strong player in both public and private investments in Brazil. The Federal Government has announced a budget of about US$ 30 billion for 2009, which is the biggest fund for the Health Ministry since the early nineties. It is estimated that the whole of the health sector will grow by 3.5% in 2009, which is higher than the prediction for the rest of the economy. As is widely known, the Brazilian public sector health services network (SUS 1 ) is quite unique and different from that of any other country in Latin America. The Ministry of Health owns and runs (through the SUS) 75% of all ambulatory services in the country, but 80% of hospitals providing services through the SUS are private, a network comprised of more than 65,000 outpatient clinics and 6,000 hospitals. It is currently estimated that 25% of Brazilians use a private system and are covered by private health insurance plans. The remaining 75% use either pub

Last year I found this website (www.advrider.com), that has TRUCKLOADS of useful information and amazing stories about dudes who, like me, love to ride motorcycles on long trips. I was so glad to see that countless guys (and gals) from each corner of this globe are into this kind of self-serving (yep, I concede, motorcycling is a bit of a egotistic affair). For those who enjoy it, bike trips are the best way to think about life's comings and goings (no pun intended), and to enjoy the machines we love at their full potential and preferential environment. I definetely recommend the site ADV. Go check it out! Ano passado achei este site na internet (www.advrider.com), que traz um MONTE de informações úteis e estórias sobre caras que, como eu, adoram fazer longas viagens de moto. Adorei descobrir que incontáveis pessoas de todos os cantos do mundo gostam deste tipo de auto-ajuda (ok, reconheço que andar de moto é um lance um pouco egoístico). Para quem gosta, viagens de moto são um óti

A good friend of mine, who never rode a big motorcycle before, bought my Yamaha Super Teneré 750cc a few months ago. I loved that bike, we had many great trips together, and I'm so glad it is with him. You see, I got him into the crazy world, the motorcycle world, and who knows, maybe one day he will become a real Adventure Rider (www.advrider.com) and we can do a long-way-round kinda trip together. I'm glad he is taking it slowly though. Big bikes are a little tricky at first. Anyhow, I'm also very happy that I now own a BMW 1100 GS, my old-dream bike, and I'm already planning to take it to the road on a long trip, maybe take it to the salt flats at Atacama Desert in Chile! So, that brings us to the real reason of this post: This friend, who bought my old bike, has given me a book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" . Of course I have heard about it before. The title always enticed me to read it, but, one of these things, I never did. He gave

A BMW GS é a motoca que eu sempre sonhei em ter. Capaz de tudo, promete de te levar tipo "to infinity and beyond". Quem não conhece esta máquina, procure no youtube a série "Long Way Round" com o dublê de motociclista Ewan McGregor e seu sidekick Charlie Boorman. Ele dão a volta ao mundo em cima de BMs como esta do vídeo abaixo.

Interessante, mas postei apenas p/ testar o "embed video"...:)