Posted on 1/12/2016
Once so disenfranchised that they didn't even appear on maps of the city, Caracas's favelas are, thanks to projects such as the technically and politically remarkable MetroCable transport system in San Agustín, acquiring a social legitimacy. Here, we talk to architect Alfredo Brillembourg, co-founder of the multidisciplinary practice Urban Think Tank, about the development of the cable-car system and how it works to fill in those cartographic blanks.
Until recently, the Caracas city map demonstrated tunnel vision on an urban scale. The giant voids that could be seen on the map were, in fact, favelas; government officials ignored the hillside slums and inserted emptiness in their place. And although the hugely populated favelas are as vibrant as they are ingenious – hacking into the electrical infrastructure of adjace...