Democles

DEMOCLES Brasil is often considered one of the most dangerous countries on the world. The high criminal rate, the drug traffic, the problem of the favelas and the corruption of the police are infamous clichè of the Brasillian cities. Rio de Janeiro is not exception. But here lies an interesting paradox: the country with one of the highest crime rate is also one of the most coercive. If one compares the recent prison population trend could notice that the number are impressive. In 2001 the prison population was of 233,859 people, in 2010 it increased to 496,000. This means that the tendency at the moment is so that the Prison Population doubles every 8 years. On the other hand the total Brasillian population takes aroud 40 years to double his number: in 1970 was of 98million, in 2011 already of 196.7 millon. This presents the possibility of a perverse scenario: projecting the actual tendencies in 2081 the the Brasillian population will be of 570 millions, the population of prisoners of 510 millions: this means that the 90% of the brasillian population will be interned. That’s where starts Damocles: the house of this 10% who don’t deserve the prison. The 10% who can vote and can decide the future of the city, and save it. The Guardians. The construction of the 7 tower of the Guardians was the first step: eyes on the city, like totemic Sentinels. But the real core of Damocles is the wall: running around Rio, from the airport to Copa Cabana, it’s a superstructure that contains in its “belly” all infrastructure that the guardians decided to build for the good of the city. Air and water filters, elettric energy production implants from geothermal energy and a system of fast transportation of goods and people. On top the Gardens: here food (through cultivation and breeding) and biomass is produced. All the kids of the city are also hosted here, to save them from the deadly influence of the city. Here they learn how to become a Guardian. The character of Diogo Fraga is introduced at the beginning of the film Tropa D’Elite2 while giving a lecture on the exploding Brazilian Prison Population. He is giving statistics and gets a chuckle out of the audience when he tells them that with the current rate of incarceration everyone in Brazil will be in prison by 2083. This is the inspiration for our vision, that we tried to follow as a provocative and negative metaphor or the contemporary addiction to safety and control. Addiction that aims to keep our cities clean and beautiful, like a postcard or a sketch of Le Corbusier. Here, as appendix, follow some numbers: Recent prison population trend: (year, prison population total, prison population rate) 1992: 114,377 (74) 1995: 148,760 (92) 1997: 170,602 (102) 2001: 233,859 (133) 2004: 336,358 (183) 2007: 422,590 (220) 2010: 496,251 (253) Source http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_country.php?country=214