Brazilian indians use digital tools to preserve their traditions and the environment.

On October 26th, global innovation boutique Mandalah will host the first Good Ideas Salon in Latin America, addressing the systemic thinking behind emerging collaborative models and more.

Domingos Tótora creates his designs from material such as used cardboard and kraft paper, bringing together beauty, form and function, with nature as his constant inspiration.

Behance is a company that organizes the creative world to make ideas happen. Every Wednesday, Behance shares 5 fresh art and design projects from their network with PSFK.

After seeing a newspaper photograph depicting birds perched on power lines, Agnelli noticed a distinct resemblance to notes on stanza.

Fiat Brazil has launched an online social media initiative to gather ideas from the public for a new concept car called the ‘Mio’ which will be presented at the 2010 Brazil Auto Show. The format is less design focused than say Peugot’s long running contest, Fiat is looking for ideas that make a car personal.
Several rounds of questions will be posed to the Mio community, the first being about features and design. Later, users will be asked for branding and marketing ideas while he engineers review the design submissions. Progress on the project will be posted and the community will [...]

Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an interdisciplinary architectural firm based in New York, was recently awarded the winning design for the new Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The museum will be situated on Rio’s famous Copacabana Beach and use the iconic boulevard as inspiration for the exposed walkways up the facade of the building.

The designers, who were behind New York’s High Line, hope to capture the idea of a public in motion and include them in the range of galleries, entertainment and educational spaces available inside the building.  The museum includes a piano bar, a restaurant, [...]

Brazilian art is experiencing a period of solid growth in the international scene, both in terms of presence and reputation. The best example of this recent exposure is in the street art world, where Brazil has been represented worldwide by names like osgemeos and Nunca. But to show that Brazilian art is more than that, the Dutch city of Rotterdam is currently hosting a series of events focused on different aspects of Brazilian contemporary art production.
Three exhibitions in three different museums take the visitor on a journey across art, architecture, visual culture and design. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen exhibits art [...]

Formed in 1996 by architects and artists, BijaRi is a collective focused on visual arts and multimedia creation. Through the use of different resources and technologies, and both analog and digital media, they propose artistic experimentations that attempt to challenge the way we think about our surroundings and the relation between humans and the urban environment in which we live in. Urban interventions, video art, performances, design and web design are the mediums used to provoke such reflections.
Their latest intervention took place on Paulista Avenue, one of the city´s busiest streets, which is often compared to New York’s 5th Avenue [...]

The government of Rio de Janeiro, has determined that walls be built around 13 slums located within the city. The building of the first one, surrounding the Dona Marta slum, has already begun. This is a theme that has been discussed in Rio de Janeiro since 2004, but what has changed since then is the reasoning behind the discussion. When announced in 2004, the walls were allegedly going to be an attempt to prevent the violence of the slums from spilling over to the rest of the city. The government´s proposal was considered a violation of human rights and a [...]

From the financial crisis to the environmental one, there is no doubt that the world is experiencing a period of drastic changes. While most of the countries are devising their policies based on green considerations, Brazil seems to be going in the opposite direction. The government has recently approved a 10-year plan for the Brazilian energy matrix that not only ignores renewable and clean energy sources where hydroelectric plants are not feasible, but also favors the increase of thermal plants based on coal and oil.
In a speech made in the south of Brazil shortly after the approval of the plan, [...]

CoolHunting have a new video about Pixação graffiti in Brazil. The angular style that seems to cover the city of Sao Paulo was first used in the early 80s and was inspired by heavy metal typography which in turn was inspired by viking type-style. The narrator Joao Wainer says that the style isn’t exactly appreciated by the locals – but it is a unique street art style that has developed in Brazil.

Further video on Pixação by Joao Wainer

Brazil continues to develop its “natural knowledge economy” by investing in opportunities for innovation based on the country’s natural resources. Sugarcane bagasse, once a worthless residue is now an important co-product used for the generation of energy and production of ethanol, among other things.
The use of the bagasse for energy begins in the sugar cane processing plants, which have become self-sufficient by using the residue. Last year, over 140 million tons of the residue were used for power generation, as opposed to packing the plants’ courtyards waiting to be disposed of. Bagasse is also being used for the production [...]

According to the Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption, one third of all that is consumed in Brazil goes straight to the trash. This means that 39,000 tons of food are thrown away everyday. In the meantime, a reported 14 million Brazilians are starving. In order to combat this waste of food, and various other issues directly related to it, the Akatu Institute has launched a campaign to promote conscious consumption. To encourage real change, the campaign focuses on what affects consumers more directly: their pockets. Using a non-aggressive tone, the campaign not only explains how consumption affects the planet but [...]

What was initially designed to be a simple experience outside the classroom to give students a closer look at real life/world problems resulted in a prize winnings of US$ 100,000 from the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award 2008. The project, “Do Cortiço da Rua Solon ao Edifício União” (“From the Solon Street Slum to the Union Building”) is a partnership between University of  São Paulo’s students and professors of architecture and urbanism and the dwellers of a dilapidated building that served as residence for 72 families (despite the precarious conditions and constant risk of eviction and fire). The initial goal [...]