

The Tower of David – Venezuela’s “vertical slum” - gasull
http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2014/04/02/the-tower-of-david-venezuelas-vertical-slum/

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nickbarnwell
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_...](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/28/130128fa_fact_anderson)

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

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

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e40
Larger versions of the photos:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/04/squatters-in-
vene...](http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/04/squatters-in-
venezuelas-45-story-tower-of-david/100721/)

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zackmorris
Obligatory:

[http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-A-
Novel/dp/0307887448](http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-A-
Novel/dp/0307887448)

Avoid spoilers, just read the book!

~~~
tjdetwiler
Great book.

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rjtavares
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...

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danso
Vocaltiv did a short video documentary on this last year:

[http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/inside-caracas-tower-of-
dav...](http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/inside-caracas-tower-of-david-the-
worlds-tallest-slum)

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

~~~
sbierwagen
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
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?

~~~
sbierwagen
The New Yorker article mentions in passing a resident carrying a container of
water up to their apartment.

You ever carry 10 gallons of water up 15 stories?

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mcv
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.

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

~~~
mikecupcake
There's a TED talk by another photographer:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpe...](http://www.ted.com/talks/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpected_places)

