Past, Present, and Future Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

After the in-depth readings of certain buildings and works of literature, in this concluding chapter, I suggest that the city more broadly exists in a perpetually and acutely “in progress” state, especially in the context of the 2016 Olympics. My notion contends that prevalent development discourses of Brazil somehow being on the brink of “fulfilling its potential” have recurred at various points since 1889, and that the latest iteration, for the Olympics, can be read according to that history. Rio has existed in a decadent condition since 1889, and continues to do so, with extreme gestures towards the past and the future coming into constant dialogue in the urban environment. Rather than ever reaching that supposed “future,” that look to the future and the past creates an aesthetic of incompleteness that has defined the history of the modern city.