Rio gains a new Clubhouse

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Critical Divide

Following the success of The Clubhouse in Buenos Aires, Oasis Collections has announced it will expand its members-only club network to include Rio de Janeiro. The new location will serve as a home away from home for its local and global members, as well as provide support to travellers staying in any of Oasis’ 100 hand-picked homes around the city.

The new club, The Clubhouse, will be located on Rua Saint Roman, in Cantagalo between Ipanema and Copacabana, and is scheduled for a soft-launch in April 2015.

Cultural Director Cande Salles, has worked closely with the Clubhouse team to select a diverse group of founding members which include supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, fashion icon Alice Dellal, designers Oskar Metsahvat and Lenny Niemeyer, Brazilian musician Seu Jorge and prominent artist Vik Muniz.

French architect/designer Jean-Luc Boucharenc and Parker Stanberry, Co-Founder & CEO of Oasis Collections, have led the renovation of a 1940s residence, with interior design direction by British designer Lizzie Ward, whose previous work has included set design and production for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Mario Testino.

Inspired by the carefree Carioca lifestyle of the 60s & 70s with a hint of the English gentleman’s club, the property will offer five stylish guest suites, infinity pool, two bars and a multi-level terrace with views of the surrounding hills and the Atlantic.

As with the Buenos Aires location, Clubhouse Rio will host a full and eclectic calendar of events for its members, including private dinners with top local and international chefs, art exhibitions, music performances and screenings. Membership will cost roughly US$1,500 per year.

“When we started thinking about our next location, Rio and Sao Paulo were both natural targets given our focus on the Brazilian market,” says Stanberry. “Despite its smaller size, Rio quickly became our top choice due to the demand from the creative class of that city for this concept.”

Clubs in the partner network that members will have access to include not only the The Clubhouse in Buenos Aires but also The Hospital in London, The Spoke in Toronto, and the Oasis Collections in Cartagena and José Ignacio.

Rio will host the FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 Finals

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Critical Divide

The FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 Group 1 Finals will be played at the Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament will serve as a test event for the volleyball competition at the Olympic Games in 2016, which will take place at the same venue.

The Group 1 Finals will be held from July 15-19 and will feature six teams (the host country, top two teams from Pool A and Pool B plus the winner of Group 2) playing off for the title of the 26th edition of the World League.

The confirmation of Rio de Janeiro as the 2015 World League Finals host city follows the news that volleyball attracted the most attention for 2016 Olympic Games tickets (27%) ahead of football (21.9%), swimming (21%) and athletics (20.6%) via the Rio Olympics ticketing registration process when it officially opened in January.

The 2015 World League Intercontinental Round features eight countries competing in Group 1 (Pools A & B). In Pool A, Finals hosts Brazil, who are nine-time winners and 2014 silver medallists, will be joined by Australia, who have been promoted from Group 2, last edition’s bronze medallists Italy and three-times silver medallists Serbia. Iran, world champions Poland, Russia and reigning champions USA will compete in Pool B.

Last year’s World League saw 28 teams compete for honours and USA defeat Brazil in the Group 1 Finals in Florence, Italy.

Rio dock area taking shape for 2016 Olympics

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rio de Janeiro is already starting to see the benefits from the demolition of an extremely ugly raised highway, the Perimetral, that ran along the bay and through the heart of the dock and historic area of the city. A new tunnel, part of the Porto Maravilha project, was opened on 1 March, the 450th anniversary of the city, that is now handling and hiding much of the traffic that used the freeway.

Olympic Park takes shapes

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Critical Divide

A video of how the Olympic Park looked in January 2015 and how it will look when the games open in August 2016.

Where to locate Rio’s Olympic flame

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rio de Janeiro is going to have to decide where to put the Olympic cauldron and the Olympic flame, and this is on the list of points for Rio 2016 to discuss with the IOC.

The problem is that the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2016 Olympics will take place in the Maracanã while most of the track and field will take place in the Engenhão. The Maracanã only hosting a couple of the football games.

In the opinion of Rio the Guide the best and most spectacular solution will be to locate the Olympic flame at the feet of the Christ the Redeemer statue on the summit of Corcovado.

The result would be the first Olympics when most of the host city and its visitors could easily see the Olympic flame at all times during the tournament. That would include the yachtsmen and women in the bay, the rowers on the Lagoa, the cyclists as they cross through Flamengo Park, the archery and marathon at the sambodromo, and so on.

No you won’t be able to see the flame at Corcovado from the Olympic Village in Barra, but neither would you see an Olympic cauldron tucked away in the Maracanã or Engenhão.

We really hope that Rio 2016 will have the courage to think out of the box and play to Rio’s strengths as there will be few host cities, if any, that will have a mountain in the centre of it to use with such an iconic global landmark.

And talking of iconic, we all remember the iconic shot that went viral at the end of the 2014 World Cup!

Happy 450th Birthday Rio!

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Critical Divide

On 1 March 2015 the city of Rio de Janeiro celebrated the 450th anniversary of its founding. The date relates to the first time the Portuguese really made an effort to set up a colony in Rio after driving out the French.

The Portuguese Government had first ordered the Governor General of Brazil, Mem de Sá, then resident in Bahia, to expel the French colony in 1560. His fleet entered the harbour of Rio on 21 February 1560, and in just two days he had taken control of the settlement. His job done, Mem de Sá returned to Bahia but without taking the precaution of establishing his own garrison. With Mem de Sá’s departure, the French returned, this time to set up camp on the mainland close to what is today Catete.

It would not be until 1565 that the Portuguese returned to Rio under the command of the Governor General’s nephew, Estácio de Sá, who landed on 1 March of that year (the date of the 450th anniversary) just west of Sugar Loaf. A bitter two-year struggle then ensued with the French defeated by the arrival of Mem de Sá himself on 18 January 1567. Two days later, on 20 January, Estácio de Sá was mortally wounded by an Indian arrow while in combat with the French settlers and their native allies. With the death of his nephew, Mem de Sá moved the site of the new town to Morro do Castelo, an area in front of what is today Santos Dumont Airport.

For a full history of Rio de Janeiro CLICK HERE

Rock in Rio 2015 takes shape

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Critical Divide

Queen, the stars of the first ever Rock in Rio in 1985, and Metallica are the latest acts to be added to the line-up for Rock in Rio 2015. Metallica (photo) last played Rock in Rio in 2013.

Queen and Metallica join other acts announced that include Katy Perry, who also performed in 2013, John Legend, A-Ha (that attracted a crowd of 198,000 in 1991, when the festival was staged at the Maracãna), System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age (who played in 2001), Slipnot (who played in 2011), Faith No More (who played in 1991), and Hollywood Vampires, the group made up of Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry.

The festival takes place between 18 and 27 September 2015 close to where the Olympic Village is being built.

Carnival 2015 in Focus

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Critical Divide

Beija-Flor wins carnival 2015

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Critical Divide

Beija-Flor (the humming bird) is the champion samba school of Rio’s 2015 carnival with a samba that was based on the historic links between Equatorial Guinea and Brazil. It was one of three schools to choose Brazil’s relationship with Africa as its theme. Viradouro, which also chose Africa, came last and was relegated.

It is Beija-Flor’s 13^th carnival title, the first since 2011.

Salgueiro was runner up with a theme that looked at the tastes and customs of the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais, while in third came Grande Rio who had as its theme cards.

Grande Rio tied on points with Portela, which looked at 450 years of Rio surreal, and last year’s champion, Unidos da Tijuca, that had a theme based around Switzerland and one of the great characters of carnival, Clovis Bornay.

In a closely fought contest the full results were:

Beija-Flor (269.9 points out of 270)
Salgueiro (269.5)
Grande Rio (269.0)
Portela (269.0)
Unidos da Tijuca (269.0)
Imperatriz Leopoldinense (268.9)
Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (268.5)
São Clemente (268.4)
União da Ilha do Governador (267.2)
Mangueira (267.1)
Unidos de Vila Isabel (266.2)
Viradouro (263.7)

Athletics timetable for Rio 2016 is published

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Critical Divide

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) has released the athletics’ timetable for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and it features finals during the morning sessions of the athletics programme.

“Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee,” said IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy. “Having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones.”

There is at least one final in all of the morning sessions. All five road events – the two marathons and the three race walk events – will be held in the morning sessions, although both 20km race walks will be in the early afternoon. Other morning finals include the women’s 10,000m, men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase, men’s 400m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s and women’s discus, and the women’s hammer.

For the full calendar – as of 15 December 2014 – click on the photo below, then click again to increase the size…