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MEGALOPOLIS: RIO DE JANERIO & AESTHETICS AS A TOOL FOR TRANSFORMATION


Whenever we talk about Brazil, Rio de Janeiro is probably the first city that comes to mind. Rio de Janeiro is one of the most famous cities in the country, known not only for the 2016 Olympics, but also for its vibrant rhythm of life that has inspired so many songs.







It is also famous for the Favelas, known in English as "slums", a peculiar social and architectural phenomenon that reverberates throughout society. In this environment was born Coolhunter Favela, a laboratory to understand and enhance the power of the ghetto movements.







However, what truly makes the city unique are its inhabitants and their interaction with the city itself.


As a consequence of the unplanned urban expansion, the city was formed in the peripheral areas called Favelas ("slums"). Within this architectural formation lies a social movement, a dynamic that belongs only to that area. Using this environment as a starting point for understanding emerging social movements, Rafa de Pina created the Coolhunter Favela that aims to explore and reconnect aesthetic movements with its most powerful essence which nowadays is constituted by the youth of the ghetto.

Coolhunter Favela works as a trend forecasting laboratory, investigating the origin of contemporary movements that have their roots tied to the cultural and aesthetic concerns of the global ghetto. Coolhunter Favela is a genuine movement to give voice to a community that has long been forgotten. "We believe in aesthetics as a tool for transformation”, said Rafaela Joaquim de Pina, Creative Director of Coolhunter Favela.




Rafaela was born in Realengo, in the western part of Rio de Janeiro. She studied fashion, and is the mind behind this project. She explains that the idea was born with the aim of creating a self-assessment office consisting of six people focused on understanding the aesthetic body within the space. Today it also focuses on other aspects, such as the creation of an online encyclopedia.












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