Fearscapes

Eduardo Kairuz, Low Density, Southern Coexistences, Survey, Territory and mobility, Urban Paradigms

Built Environment & Low Density, Caracas, Global Awareness, Photographic Atlas of the Cities, Photography, Planetary urbanizations, Security, South America, Southern cities, Southern Coexistences, Survey, Urban conditions, Urban Paradigms, Venezuela

Back in June of 2003, I drove the Australian partner of a long-time friend around Caracas, Venezuela — the capital of my home country. He was visiting from Sydney; and because of his circumspect and unbroken silence, I assumed that he was tired and jet lagged after the multiple stopovers and long-haul flight. As I drove him on the autopista — the highway that splits Caracas in two, and provides some of the best vantage points to see the city’s broken images — I sensed that he was taking in the sights. I asked him about his impressions, expecting the default response I was usually given by typical startled tourists, who used to talk about the city’s intensity, chaos, speed, and informality. But ‘Danny’ surprised me, answering my complacent question with a sharper, emotional, and critical question of his own:
Why does it seem as if people live like animals, in cages?