BRAZIL

This place has been in by bucket list for ages. But flights were always expensive, and whenever I asked about it, people warned me about it being unsafe. With so much bad press, lots of movies and Simpsons’ episodes about kids with guns in favelas, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was truth.

RIO DE JANEIRO

Rio is a huge city. With its famous beaches and mountains, it has a beautiful landscape. Besides you can take a morning to visit one of the new 7 wonders of the World: The Christ of Corcovado. And an afternoon to take the cable car to the top of the Sugar Loaf (where you can also take an helicopter and see the sunset behind the Christ).

FAVELA ROCINHA

One of my goals in Brazil was to venture inside a Favela and see it for myself. Rocinha is one of the largest and safest favelas in Rio (it’s where Bruce Banner lived in “The Incredible Hulk). The visit was one of the best experiences in the trip. Not only did we get to explore its alleys; we met a lot of friendly people, gazed at its amazing street art, and fell in love with its vibe. Of course it has its issues, but over all, it’s a place full of joy.

NITEROI

As a designerd, I wanted to visit as many buildings by architect Oscar Niemeyer as possible. Across the bay in Rio there’s a town called Niterói, where a path called Caminho Niemeyer features several of his buildings, including the Jetson’s like Museum of Contemporary Art.

BRASILIA

Brasilia is the fullfillment of every architect’s dream: building a city from scratch. Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer designed this city in the 1960’s as a futuristic vision of how the world was going to work.

But, as time went by, and humanity’s priorities have changed, some of it feels outdated and undermaintained. Still, it is a very worthy visit.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

I compiled an ebook with my complete trip on December 2018. It features my itinerary, my designerd findings and epic fails. You can get it on my Gumroad shop by clicking here.