Interview at CEASA

An interview with Amurim, a "carregador ambulante" or freelance carrier. He transports goods from trucks or loading docks to the market building and from the market building to the buyer's truck. I caught him at the end of the work day and he gave me his thoughts on how to improve the CEASA.


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Images of the CEASA

I took far far too long to decide to visit this place. Two weeks into my trip and documenting too many things I will never use, I found my pot of gold. The CEASA-RS is the "Central de Abastecimento do Rio Grande do Sul", an agricultural supply center. Farmers and sellers from the entire state drive to this complex between Porto Alegre and CANOAS to sell their produce at wholesale quantities. Local markets and restaurants all buy their supplies here directly from the planters. The complex within its 6 working hours circulates over 40,000 people every day. There were plans to double the complex but the land needed has yet to be purchased. The chaotic scene is the best proof of the success of the CEASA. It is the only major center in the state, although there are two micro-CEASAs in Pelotas and Caxias do Sul. Centers like these in smaller scales could maximize the distribution capabilities of the producers in the state, especially in places lacking strong trade organization like in the Pampas.



In the administrative building I also found old pictures of what the distribution centers looked like before the CEASA and a few pictures from the CEASA's construction.

Images of IAPI and Vila dos Comerciarios

The Instituto de Aposentadorias e Pensões dos Industriários (IAPI) was built in 1936 during the "Estado Novo", headed by Getulio Vargas with similar ideals as the "New Deal". There are IAPI's in several Brazilian cities, all built as "cidades jardins", much like garden cities in the United States such as Greenbelt, MD. The IAPI is now a neighborhood in Porto Alegre since it has been surrounded by development.

The most striking difference between IAPI and Greenbelt is the preservation of the place. Architects in Brazil are constantly enfuriated by the "discharacterization" of planned towns, they complain about the modifications to the buildings, the landscapes, and the building uses. On the other hand, the inhabiting of these places and gradual modifications and marks left by its residents adds an incredible amount of character and physical layers of history. My impression of IAPI is that even an iron-fist home-owner's association could not have prevented the incremental changes of the neighborhood.



An aerial photo of the IAPI

Mercado Publico in Porto Alegre

The Mercado Publico in Porto Alegre is one of the best known in Brazil, particularly for its revitalization in the 1980s. It is still considered the best place to purchase fish in the country and is the anchor to one of the busiest public squares in the city. Around it, overflow produce sellers have set up shop near the bus stops and paved plazas. The market is my favorite place in Porto Alegre, reminiscent of the city's origins as a port and trade post while incorporating the gaucho lifestyle and modern downtown atmosphere. It is colorful, alive, and infinitely rich in photographic potential.



A block from the market is a building that has been abandoned since it was under construction. It is over 15 stories tall and in the heart of downtown but was never completed so it has been taken over by squatters. They have installed windows, power, television antennas, clotheslines, stores, and all the spontaneous parts of most favelas inside the building's skeleton. Here are a few pictures:

Get to Know a State

The diagram below generally maps out the land uses and reasons for being of the different regions of the southern half of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The dark black border is the boundary between Uruguay and Brazil.




Below is a scale comparison of the state of Rio Grande do Sul overlaid on the Bos-Wash megalopolis. The state is large enough to capture Richmond to New York City to Pittsburg to Buffalo and everything in between.




Here is another scale comparison encompassing most of the major Italian cities.

Google Earth Links

Here are some *.kml links straight into Google Earth to the areas that I am pursuing my work. Click on the city name to be taken to an aerial view of the area in Google Earth.

Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
City of about 100,000 inhabitants, a commercial hub for the pampas region less than an hour drive from the Uruguay border at Acegua.

Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Capital city of the state, metropolitan area of about 4 million. It is the fourth largest city in Brazil and the southernmost major city.