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About
- Flavie Halais works as a freelancer in the journalism, film/television and new media industries in Montreal.Her journalistic work currently concentrates on the impact of mega-events in Brazil and the development of informal settlements throughout the world. She conducts research about alternative urban cultures in the Global South and keeps a listing of her findings at Global Urban Culture. She blogs at Defiant Imagination, sometimes makes films of her own, experiments with photography and multimedia narratives.She has been involved in a number of new media projects, participating in the concept development, project management, social media strategy and funding applications of web-based documentaries, mobile apps and transmedia experiences.In the past, Flavie worked as a production assistant and researcher on several documentary films and covered the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games as a correspondent and blogger. She holds a B.A. in History from Paris 1 University (Sorbonne) in Paris and a B.A. in Journalism from Concordia University in Montreal.
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Films
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Moniker
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Articles
- As the world's population of informal-settlement dwellers races to the 1.5 billion mark, designers and planners must play a central, if redefined, role.
Architectural Record, March 2013
Rio de Janeiro has engaged in an ambitious security operation aimed at freeing its favelas from the control of gangs in time for the 2016 Olympics. But security is not the only rationale behind the program. As with everything, economic interests and international exposure drive Rio's makeover.
openDemocracy, March 12, 2013 (part of the Cities in Conflict series)
Rio's favela residents fight mega-event eviction
Gleaming plans for urban revitalization ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics include the not-so-shiny removal of thousands of families in lower-class communities.
openDemocracy, February 14, 2013 (part of the Cities in Conflict series)
Last Samba in Rio: Sanitizing the Olympic City's Historic Port
Flavie Halais takes us to the old port of Rio de Janeiro, where the city's first public-private partnership, Porto Maravilha, is recreating the neighbourhood for international consumption in time for the World Cup and Olympic Games, threatening the birthplace of samba and the life of the city's oldest favelas.
The Global Urbanist, December 18, 2012Medellín: An Urban Facelift that's More Than Skin Deep
Eye-catching new architecture projects are emblematic of Medellín's return from a city of violence to a city of 'research and entrepreneurship'. But behind the scenes is a multilayered program of social and physical interventions, disarmament of paramilitary groups and security improvements, a program not without its mistakes as Flavie Halais reports.
The Global Urbanist, November 27, 2012
Shock Therapy: The Pacification of Rio de Janeiro's favelas
Flavie Halais reports on the efficacy of the new Police Pacification Units cleaning up the favelas of Rio de Janeiro from drug traffickers and violent crime, and asks why the city's authorities have chosen this time to step up the programme.
The Global Urbanist, November 6, 2012
The Military Move into Rio de Janeiro's favelas (pdf)
Peace Magazine, June 2012
Has South America's Most Sustainable City Lost Its Edge?
Brazil's Curitiba was once a model of sustainable planning. Now, it's struggling with a slew of urban problems.
The Atlantic Cities, June 6, 2012
Wychwood Barns (pdf)Great Old Bones in a New Neighbourhood
Landscapes/Paysages, Spring 2010
Vancouver découvre le revers de la médaille
Clap de fin, hier, pour les XXIes Jeux d’hiver, au Canada, avec la cérémonie de clôture. Après des années de préparation et deux semaines comme centre du monde, la ville passe dès aujourd’hui à l’après-JO. Une tout autre histoire.L'Humanité, 1er mars 2010
Quand les alter-médias tissent leur toile citoyenneFaute d’accréditations pour couvrir les jeux Olympiques, de nombreux réseaux sociaux et blogueurs ont ouvert un centre de presse parallèle dans le centre-ville de Vancouver et couvrent les sujets délaissés par les médias traditionnels. Reportage.
L'Humanité, 22 février 2010
Jeux verts ou jeux de malins ?
C’est dans l’air du temps, Vancouver a joué à fond la carte écologique pour accueillir les JO d’hiver. Mais, si certaines réalisations sont en pointe, la réalité est parfois éloignée du tout beau, tout écolo.L'Humanité, 18 février 2010
Downtown Eastside, si loin du rêve doré
Si Vancouver, hôte des Jeux d’hiver, est vanté pour sa qualité de vie, la ville a aussi son revers de la médaille. « Visite » de Dowtown Eastside, quartier déshérité à l’ombre de l’or olympique.
L'Humanité, 16 février 2010
Lyme disease: suffering in silenceThe story of a physiological and political disease.
The Warehouse, October 2009
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Portfolio
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Posts
- Feb 24, 13
A view of kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(The Africa we don’t see on TV) - Jan 25, 13
““But why do I feel as a European that this city is a total chaos? I think it is a typical response. There is a myth that the city is ordered and that myth exists in city halls around the world. The reality is however, that the city has always been chaotic. In Caracas all these forces stream freely and have produced new forms of city that are not known to us.””
- Hubert Klumpner in Caracas, The Informal City. Documentary for VPRO television The Netherlands, http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/backlight/Caracas-the-informal-city.html - Jan 25, 13
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“By projecting economic values on all aspects of physical form and space, the city itself becomes a commodity, based on an exchange value. In this way, planning turns into a mere problem of demand and supply. The neo-liberal urban model is determined by a tendency towards largeness, profit accumulation, commoditisation of the public sphere, fractionation and specialisation of its components, and standardisation of its physical forms.
Can cities in the future be more than a sheer result of economic interests? Can they still be a social space, determined by the requirements of everyday life? And can planning remain not just a free market activity, but also a cultural performance, committed to public interest?”
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- “New Settlements in the South – Urban Models for the 21st Century?”, Peter Gotsch and Michael Peterek. - Nov 30, 12
- Nov 28, 12Medellín: an urban facelift that's more than skin deep:
Eye-catching new architecture projects are emblematic of Medellín’s return from a city of violence to a city of ‘research and entrepreneurship’. But behind the scenes is a multilayered program of social and physical interventions, disarmament of paramilitary groups and security improvements, a program not without its mistakes as Flavie Halais reports.
- Nov 18, 12
- Nov 16, 12
I’m quite impressed with what David Alan Harvey as come up with for his Rio book. The design is absolutely smart and new, and the photos stunning.
- Nov 15, 12
Mjölk, The Junction, Toronto. Amazing design store.
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Stuff
PORTUGUESE MEMORY SHEETS
I designed this set of memory sheets while learning Portuguese last year. I'm putting them up for download for free. The set includes eight sheets about pronunciaton, grammar and verbs.
Stick them to a wall you often see, in your bedroom, kitchen or or at the office, and look at them whenever you have a minute.
Download the set here.
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POSTCARDS
This series of photographs was taken in Brazil between January and March 2012, with Rollei disposable cameras. Each card comes with a personal message in the back that describes the picture in a personal way. I wanted to share memories from my trip before to move on to other stages of this months-long, maybe years-long project, and express the impressions, feelings and emotions that were part of my experience.Photography, words and design by Flavie Halais.
