The Tower of David – Venezuela’s “vertical slum”

http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2014/04/02/the-tower-of-david-venezuelas-vertical-slum/

by gasull • 12 years ago

59 16 12 years ago

blogs.reuters.com

coderzach• 12 years ago

Huh, I guess the Mega City Blocks in Dredd weren't that far off.

If you're interested in a more narrative take on Caracas' slums and how Chavez's policies contributed to their rise, the New Yorker carried a fantastic essay on the topic a few months back [1]

1: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/28/130128fa_fact_...

calibraxis• 12 years ago

Isn't that the piece of US propaganda mentioned explicitly in the article, part of the reason why the author had a hard time getting access?

Given that we're constantly influenced by US media, why not link to something most people haven't been exposed to, like http://venezuelanalysis.com ?

(Obviously movements take many years and evolve, but it'd be awesome if the Occupy movement were so abnormally fast that people took over entire financial buildings.)

shamney• 12 years ago

http://caracaschronicles.com/ is another interesting venezuelan blog, which also has the advantage of NOT being the english language mouthpiece of the venezuelan state.

rjtavares• 12 years ago

I remember watching the Homeland episode set there and thinking "This can't be real". Even in that over the top series, it felt too much...

danso• 12 years ago

Vocaltiv did a short video documentary on this last year:

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/inside-caracas-tower-of-dav...

The part I remembered was how residents are taxied up the first 10 floors by motorcycles.

sbierwagen2• 12 years ago

I'm committing the intellectual crime of saying "Well why didn't they just do [obvious thing X]", when I know almost nothing about local conditions, here, something that I've criticized others for doing on HN before, but man

Why haven't they installed elevators?

It's century-old technology, can be operated manually, you could use a gasoline engine on the winch if electricity isn't available. You could install the winch spanning the elevator shaft at the tenth floor or something, if 40 stories of cable is too heavy for your winch. There's a "landlord" collecting rent, so there's money, and the elevator shafts already exist. If you're worried about safety, then just use it as a cargo elevator.

What's missing?

whatusername• 12 years ago

Feature not a bug?

I imagine making your house in the slum harder to reach makes it less likely to be reached by those you don't want?

zackmorris• 12 years ago

Obligatory:

http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-A-Novel/dp/0307887448

Avoid spoilers, just read the book!

tjdetwiler• 12 years ago

Great book.

whoismua• 12 years ago

Saw a documentary, it's amazing, people have completed many apartments, complete with running water and furniture. I guess they feel secure enough there

hxc• 12 years ago

What was the name of the Documentary? I would be interested in watching it.

mikecupcake• 12 years ago

There's a TED talk by another photographer:

http://www.ted.com/talks/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpe...

e40• 12 years ago

Larger versions of the photos:

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/04/squatters-in-vene...

mcv• 12 years ago

This is totally Shadowrun.

Failed corporate project abandoned and left to ruin, taken over by squatters who self-organized and turned it into a nice little society of its own.

The Tower of David – Venezuela’s “vertical slum”

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