Artist found dead on Rio mosaic staircase he spent 20 years creating

The ceramic street artist who created one of Rio de Janeiro’s most distinctive landmarks was found dead on Thursday on the spectacular mosaic staircase in Lapa that he decorated with brightly coloured tiles and mirrors over more than two decades.

Jorge Selarón, a Chilean artist who transformed the 215 steps of the Convent of Santa Teresa as a “tribute to the Brazilian people”, had reportedly suffered depression and was being threatened by a former colleague connected to local drug gangs.

No verdict has been given on the cause of death but friends said they had feared he would kill himself because he felt betrayed.

Photographs showed that passersby have already lit candles near the body as a mark of respect for the much loved artist, who went from obscurity to fame but never left the gritty neighbourhood that is at the heart of the city’s Samba culture.

Selarón was primarily a painter in 1990 when he started a small scale renovation of the steep steps that ran outside his house up into the Santa Teresa favela. But the part-time project became a life work.

Sometimes selling his paintings to fund his obsession, he changed the tatty path, tile by tile, fragment by fragment, into a blaze of colour and a globally recognised symbol of Rio.

His steps – often referred to as the Selarón staircase – were designated as a city landmark and appeared in fashion magazines, music videos and films. The artist was declared an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro.

As his notoriety increased so did the value of his paintings and, more recently, the pressures on the artist in an area that is also notorious for crime and drug use. The Globo newspaper said a dispute over the proceeds from his art sales had made him suicidal.

This attractive design is made from top quality ceramic and its style statement square shape is sure to make it the talking point of any kitchen. The Gourmet Sink 6 is designed for the contemporary space-saving kitchen – it can be fitted as over or under mounted options to maximise work space and comes with a 450mm x 475mm specific waste.

UAE-based RAK Ceramics are the world’s largest ceramic tile and sanitary ware manufacturer and they are synonymous with providing the highest quality products and services.

Managing Director of TradePlumbing, Peter Clayton comments, “We have been stocking quality RAK bathroom products for some time now at TradePlumbing, so it was a natural choice to carry some of their stylish kitchen sink ranges also. I’m a particular fan of this simple and elegant square sink. Its pleasing shape makes an interesting change from the ubiquitous rectangular sink and we carry a fantastic range of kitchen taps to compliment it, including the chic Aurora kitchen mixer tap in chrome from Kirby Sebastian. All RAK products carry a 20 year guarantee so you can be assured of quality, all at unbeatable TradePlumbing prices.”

This attractive design is made from top quality ceramic and its style statement square shape is sure to make it the talking point of any kitchen. The Gourmet Sink 6 is designed for the contemporary space-saving kitchen – it can be fitted as over or under mounted options to maximise work space and comes with a 450mm x 475mm specific waste.

UAE-based RAK Ceramics are the world’s largest ceramic tile and sanitary ware manufacturer and they are synonymous with providing the highest quality products and services.

Managing Director of TradePlumbing, Peter Clayton comments, “We have been stocking quality RAK bathroom products for some time now at TradePlumbing, so it was a natural choice to carry some of their stylish kitchen sink ranges also. I’m a particular fan of this simple and elegant square sink. Its pleasing shape makes an interesting change from the ubiquitous rectangular sink and we carry a fantastic range of kitchen taps to compliment it, including the chic Aurora kitchen mixer tap in chrome from Kirby Sebastian. All RAK products carry a 20 year guarantee so you can be assured of quality, all at unbeatable TradePlumbing prices.”

“We’re seeing more desire for wood throughout the entire first floor,” said Christopher Shaxted, executive vice president for Right Residential, which buys and rehabs existing properties throughout the Chicago area. Buyers are drawn to the longevity and durability of wood — the fact that it can be refinished over and over again is a distinct plus, he said.

Many also like the ability to see what’s collecting on their floors, particularly if they are allergic to dust or pet dander. It’s often difficult to know what lurks unseen in a shaggy or particularly dense carpet. “Hardwood just seems cleaner and fresher somehow,” Shaxted said.

Customers of Orren Pickell Building Group continue to request hardwood floors, but some want different types of wood to keep things fresh. “Acacia is a beautiful wood and it’s incredibly hard,” said Orren Pickell, who is president of the homebuilding firm. Still, good old white and red oak remain the most popular choices for hardwood flooring among his customers.

While those building homes today tend to be careful with their choices, buyers will make a well-considered splash if they can afford it, said Brian Hoffman, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Red Seal Development, which builds semicustom homes in northern suburbs such as Lake Zurich and Wilmette.

Hoffman’s clients mix wide-plank hardwood with stone, crafting eye-catching patterns in public spaces or creating special private spaces where they can unwind in style. Wood planks are installed on a grid that is filled in with tile or stone.

“We’re seeing (these designs) in the entryway and master bath,” Hoffman said. “People often like to match their flooring to the tile work in the bath.”

Also new, Velas said, is an emphasis on texture. She’s favoring natural flooring, such as sisal that’s installed wall to wall and dispensed from rolls like carpeting.

Flooring today is anything but uniform: Carpets are sculpted with patterns in the weave and with loops cut to differing heights. Wood floors wear distress marks, wormholes and scrapes like badges of honor. Topsy-turvy housing market aside, buyers are willing to embrace imperfection, at least, when it comes to their floors.

Aggie Called All-embracing Parking Supervisor Of The Year

June Broughton, communications administrator for the Busline Casework Administration at Texas A&M University, has been called the 2012 Supervisor of the Year by the All-embracing Parking Institute (IPI).

The accolade is one of three aloft awards in IPI’s Able Recognition Program. In authoritative the announcement, IPI admiral say the alignment created the affairs to account parking industry professionals who body arete in the industry and who are alteration the acumen of parking through their accomplishments and authoritative programs.

Broughton, a 1982 business alum of Texas A&M, has formed for the university’s Busline Casework Administration for 10 years. She was accustomed for her charge to account excellence. Her nominators agenda that she is accepted for traveling aloft and above alone bearing business materials; she searches out and learns university guidelines and again works with groups to ensure alignment amid them.

During her 10 years at Texas A&M, Broughton has apparent a abundant accord of change and has helped her administration bazaar new programs to access its success. These awning an image/brand attack launched in 2003 to focus on the department’s customer-driven aesthetics and prove this through avant-garde articles and casework which accommodated the needs of the customer.

Also the administration began an online admittance allotment affairs that now processes added than 36,000 admittance requests anniversary year; hands-free lot and barn access; real-time bus area data; “Get to the Grid” shuttles alien to carriage added than 5,000 admirers to Kyle Field anniversary bold day for chargeless (sponsorship dollars awning the cost); pay-by-space and pay-by-cell company parking technology; ride-share, bike-share and car rental for students, adroitness and staff; use of biodiesel ammunition in buses; branding of the Aggie Spirit bus fleet; a absolute company parking affairs to account admittance prices; and a company parking and a barn signage wayfinding program.

In accession to managing the website and externally-delivered abstracts for all these programs, Broughton articular and anchored artistic sources of acquirement to advice account her team’s costs.

Facing action from administrators, she led an commercial affairs for the racks in the department’s bus fleet, acceptable them to try a pilot affairs application ads from added on-campus departments, Busline Casework admiral note. The acknowledged pilot garnered approval to extend the bus commercial affairs to non-affiliated companies as well, growing the program’s acquirement beck from $25,000 to $150,000 per year.

They add that Broughton consistently assists others in the parking industry in developing their own business and communications programs and shares her ability in alignment with IPI’s mission of accouterment leadership, training, and able development.

The accolade was presented to Broughton at IPI’s all-embracing appointment on June 12. Both Peter Lange, controlling administrator of Texas A&M’s Busline Services, and Debbie Hoffmann, accessory director, presented at this year’s conference.

“The appointment and appearance is aswell an befalling for us to see new technologies that we will be able to absorb in our casework in the approaching as able-bodied as abide to allotment best practices in the industry. With aggregation associates such as June Broughton, we abide to be apparent as the criterion for others in the parking and busline industry,” Lange added.

This is not the aboriginal time Texas A&M’s Busline Casework has been recognized. In 2009, it was called Parking Alignment of the Year.

Parking is basic to busline flow, bread-and-butter development, acreage use, law enforcement, architectural aesthetics and all-embracing superior of life. With the parking industry’s absolute impact, IPI associates awning professionals from cities, anchorage authorities, borough centers, bookish institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, airports, accumulated complexes, racetracks, alteration and busline agencies, retail, hospitality, ball and sports centers, architects, engineers, banking consultants and burghal planners, as able-bodied as the suppliers of equipment, articles and casework to the parking and busline industries.

IPI’s purpose is advancing the parking profession through leadership, education, able development, conferences, connections, abstracts collection, advancement and outreach.

Other awards were presented including Parking Able of the Year to Rachel Yoka, carnality admiral of cardinal business planning & sustainability for TimHaahs, and Heather Medley of Texas Tech University was called Staff Member of the Year.