Práticas culturais como insurgências urbanas: o caso do Squat Kunsthaus Tacheles em Berlim | Cultural practices as urban insurgencies: the case of the Kunsthaus Tacheles Squat in Berlin

Este artigo aborda o tema da “insurgência” através da análise de práticas culturais que emergem como resistências aos crescentes processos de “culturalização” do espaço urbano. Partindo do princípio de que a criação e a venda de imagens de cidade dominam o campo do Planejamento Urbano contemporâneo, propomos investigar alguns casos que atuem contra essa tendência, com foco no recorte espacial de Berlim. Apresentamos um breve histórico das insurgências urbanas na capital alemã – hoje tida como um dos exemplos emblemáticos de “cidade criativa”, tão em voga no início do século XXI. Atenção especial será dada aos squats berlinenses, especialmente ao Kunsthaus Tacheles. Apesar de serem apropriados pelo marketing urbano oficial – que visa à construção de uma imagem de cidade alternativa e atraente aos profissionais criativos –, os squats sofrem negativamente com a gentrificação. Como consequência, veem-se obrigados a criar modos verdadeiramente criativos para garantir seu direito à cidade.

Growth inhibition of sulfate-reducing bacteria in produced water from the petroleum industry using essential oils

Strategies for the control of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the oil industry involve the use of high concentrations of biocides, but these may induce bacterial resistance and/or be harmful to public health and the environment. Essential oils (EO) produced by plants inhibit the growth of different microorganisms and are a possible alternative for controlling SRB. We aimed to characterize the bacterial community of produced water obtained from a Brazilian petroleum facility using molecular methods, as well as to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of EO from different plants and their major components against Desulfovibrio alaskensis NCIMB 13491 and against SRB growth directly in the produced water. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of the genera Pelobacter and Marinobacterium, Geotoga petraea, and the SRB Desulfoplanes formicivorans in our produced water samples. Sequencing of dsrA insert-containing clones confirmed the presence of sequences related to D. formicivorans. EO obtained from Citrus aurantifolia, Lippia alba LA44 and Cymbopogon citratus, as well as citral, linalool, eugenol and geraniol, greatly inhibited (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 78 µg/mL) the growth of D. alaskensis in a liquid medium. The same MIC was obtained directly in the produced water with EO from L. alba LA44 (containing 82% citral) and with pure citral. These findings may help to control detrimental bacteria in the oil industry

(In)Subordinate Planning: A Decolonial Tool for Marginalized Urban Areas

The city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) has various socially and historically marginalized areas, such as peripheral neighborhoods and favelas, which lack traditional leisure and cultural spaces. These areas are often seen as subaltern, neglected by the state, and not sufficiently contemplated in public policies. Consequently, local inhabitants frequently have to come up with improvised solutions, using their own resources to design and build sociocultural spaces. While much has been written about the practice of self-building in favelas, not enough research has been done from the urban planning/urban studies perspective pairing this practice with the decolonial theory hailing from South America. This article aims to frame the collective self-building of sociocultural spaces in favelas as a type of “insubordinate planning.” The concept of “insubordinate planning” is suggested here as part of a broader decolonial toolbox, regularly used by marginalized urban communities to persist and ensure their right to the city. To illustrate the connection between self-building, sociocultural spaces, insubordinate planning, and decolonial theory, the case study of the Sitiê Park in the Vidigal Favela is presented. This study was conducted through ethnography for a year and proves that decolonial principles are intrinsic to favela dwellers when it comes to building persistent spaces