One of the best things I have gotten to do here was to visit Escadaria Selarón, also known as the 'Selaron Steps', is a set of world-famous steps in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They are the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who claimed it as "my tribute to the Brazilian people." Running from Joaquim Silva street and Pinto Martins street, officially known as Manuel Carneiro street, the steps straddle both the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro. There are 215 steps measuring 125 metres long which are covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world. No sooner than one section of the steps were 'finished', Selarón started work on another section, constantly changing it so that it was an ever evolving piece of art. Selarón considered the work as "never complete" and claimed that "This crazy and unique dream will only end on the day of my death."
Originally, tiles for the work were scavenged from various construction sites and piles of urban waste found on the Rio streets. But in later years most of the tiles were donated by visitors from all around the world.
This was to me the real Rio. We are staying in a very new, suburban type area with not a lot of culture. When I go to an Olympic Games I try and see the neighborhoods and how the local people live day to day. Going to the steps was my glimpse in to how the people of this neighborhood live. I could have stayed all day and listened to the musician play his guitar all day but we had less than an hour to visit the stairs. I made a little video of our experience so please enjoy!
Originally, tiles for the work were scavenged from various construction sites and piles of urban waste found on the Rio streets. But in later years most of the tiles were donated by visitors from all around the world.
This was to me the real Rio. We are staying in a very new, suburban type area with not a lot of culture. When I go to an Olympic Games I try and see the neighborhoods and how the local people live day to day. Going to the steps was my glimpse in to how the people of this neighborhood live. I could have stayed all day and listened to the musician play his guitar all day but we had less than an hour to visit the stairs. I made a little video of our experience so please enjoy!