Latest posts from our Rio de Janeiro expert:
The world's hippest staircase!
As a city, Rio de Janeiro has more than its fair share of world-famous tourist attractions. Copacabana beach, Sugar Loaf mountain and the Christ Statue are the images that most people call to mind when they think of the city, but for me, the sight that truly captures the spirit of Rio can be found far away from the tourist hordes, in the heart of downtown.
The Escadaria Selaron, known affectionately by gringoes as the ‘Lapa Steps’ will already be familiar to hip-hop fans, as it featured heavily in the video for the Snoop Dogg and Pharell track ‘Beautiful’. As colourful, vibrant, unique and eccentric as the city itself, the steps are an ever-evolving open air art installation put together as a real labour of love from off-beat Chilean artist Selaron. Using tiles from all over the world, Selaron has painstakingly covered every inch of this long, twisting staicase that links the neighbourhoods of Lapa and Santa Teresa. Selaron says the steps are his tribute to the Brazilian people, and the majority of the tiles used are in the yellow, blue and green of the Brazilian flag. Interspersed with the tiles are some fine examples of Selaron’s own work – his distinctive style perfectly captures the crazy/beautiful world of Rio and its inhabitants, and his paintings can be seen on bar and restaurant walls across the city. Selaron can be found working on the steps most days, and you couldn’t fail to spot him. Always dressed head to toe in red, with a long grey ponytail and handlebar moustache, he is the textbook example of an eccentric artist.
Head to the Lapa steps and you'll frequently see models posing for fashion shoots - the steps are the perfect backdrop for any 'cutting edge' designers. Don't forget your own camera, few can resist the temptation to make like Snoop and Pharell and pose on the steps.