Wednesday, August 01, 2012

São Paulo as Seen from the 21st Floor of a Morumbi Apartment

The following photos were taken from the next to last floor in a high-rise in the fancy Morumbi region (bairro). Morumbi, as this academic article discusses, is at the same time one of the richest parts of the city and the place where its second largest slum (favela) -- Paraisópolis -- is located. I photographed the favela too, so you can see it below. (Paraisópolis is obviously a very ironic name, since it means "Paradise city").
(I took the photos from our friends' apartment)

A shower with a view
I started taking photos after enjoying this view during my really long shower (because of the view!):
 Another shower view:
I was really surprised at how close the (artificial) lake is. I went to a house adjacent to this lake to tutor two middle-schoolers in English as my very first paying job. The photo below was taken from the balcony, not the bathroom window, though:
In the background one can see the Southern (most prosperous) region of São Paulo city and the buildings of "Paulista Avenue" in the very back. The "favela" (slum) is in-between the buildings on the left-hand side of the photo, see more below.
 Zooming closer to Paraisópolis:

 The more "prosperous" side of the favela (mostly brick buildings) below, center:

The more miserable looking part (from what we can see with my zoon lens, obviously!):
 The last two photos, more of Morumbi's high rises:
I took more, but I think they make more sense for people who know Sampa well. How do you like these? You and I were like, since the weather was amazing in Sampa on Sunday and it was awful on Monday -- I was so glad I'd taken the photos when I did!

P.S. I hope my MIL doesn't pay for her hotspot connection on the basis of data sent!! :(
(I know nothing about this stuff, but she probably pays a standard monthly fee... ;)

3 comments:

  1. Interesting location and cool shots!

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  2. Thanks for sharing these photos, what a view for a shower! Very interesting to learn how the city is set up.

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  3. I love Sao Paulo, and your photos are great. I spent there almost a month. While I have great friends who showed me the city in unusual ways (like a former editor of Folha do Sao Paolo who gave me the best walking tour ever), I never got a sense of its scale from above.

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