Abstract
This visual chapter focuses on one of the most famous postcards in the world: the Sugarloaf Mountain, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. From early photographic works on natural landscapes in the late nineteenth century to contemporary visual representations involving mega-events, urban renewal and city-branding, the Sugarloaf Mountain has come a long way in staging its natural, vertical monumentality. The chapter will explore recent photographic contexts in which Rio’s “natural born monument” has been promoting the image of Rio as the “Marvelous City.”
The Sugarloaf is the city’s natural born monument.
It does not need to be registered or have any other formality
that attests to its condition. It is in its face, as they say.
However, a huge building with an extensive façade
and 13 stories is appearing in front of it,
visible from Praça Paris and Flamengo Park,
in a scandalous mockery of the Carioca population.
—Lúcio Costa, “It’s a Crime Against Rio,” 1971
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to extend his sincere gratitude to the authors and photographers who generously donated their images for reproduction in this article. These include Marcos Chaves (Fig. 15.1: “Eu só vendo a vista,” photo collaboration by Vicente de Mello) and Rosane Araujo (Fig. 15.5: “A cidade sou eu,” photography and photo montage by Rosane Araujo).
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de La Barre, J. (2023). Rio’s “Natural Born Monument”: Visual Imaginaries of The Sugarloaf Mountain. In: Bratchford, G., Zuev, D. (eds) Vision and Verticality. Social Visualities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39884-1_15
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