ABSTRACT

The wide sidewalks of central Rio de Janeiro are beautiful mosaics of white, gray, andblack stone. Each major boulevard has its own unique pattern. During my first night in Rio, sometime in June 1994, my carioca friends took me to dinner in a chic section of town.1 After our sumptuous meal, we strolled along the sidewalks holding bags filled with the remains of our generous dinner. The evening air was pleasantly balmy; the titter of al fresco diners’ conversations blended with distant music and motor vehicle noise as we walked. At a particular corner, I stopped to admire the window displays of a designer bathroom fixture store. A half dozen bathrooms-with their perfectly colorcoordinated commodes, bidets, sinks, towels, wallpapers, and tile floors-dazzled me. The window embodied the glamorous, fashionable Rio of popular songs and cinema.