56 The other side of the Atlantic offered, after all, security, quality of life, a mild climate, a common language and history, facilities for obtaining a European passport, and low taxes, compared to the rest of Europe. These attractions were coupled with a very active real estate market whose prices still remained lower than those of other European capitals. Despite having risen 46% between 2015 and 2017, the square meter of building space in upscale areas of Lisbon, for example, is currently around 8 thousand euros, while in Paris and London it is around 18 and 27 thousand euros, respectively. 4 It is no wonder that, in the growing migratory low from Brazil to Portugal, the emigrants’ plans nearly always involve the acquisition of a property—a house or apartment—for a personal residence, secondary residence or rental unit. 5 The numbers are constantly increasing: between 2014 and 2017, the percentage of Brazilians among the foreigners who most sought real estate properties in Portugal jumped from 6% to 10%. And since 2012, the number of so-called “golden visas” (Portuguese residence visas obtained by acquiring real estate property worth more than 500,000 euros) granted to citizens of Brazil jumped from 69 to 282 in just two years (between 2015 and 2017). 6 This phenomenon is part of a long and convoluted history of architectural, migratory and symbolic lows between Brazil and Portugal, which includes the violent cycle of forced migration from Africa instated in the colonial period, and the hasty move of the Portuguese royal family to the Brazilian colony in 1807–1808. But the reversal of the low that has taken place in the last three or four years corresponds to a curious coincidence: Brazil has entered into collapse, while Portugal is giving surprising signs of renewed growth. The year 2014 is a landmark in this sense: it simultaneously marks the beginning of Operation Car Wash in Brazil and the end of the troika period in Portugal. That is, the beginning of the investigation of corruption schemes and embezzlement of public funds that triggered the current crisis in which Brazil inds itself—and, in Portugal, the reversal of the austerity measures imposed in 2011 by the triad formed by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. WAYS OF LIVING In September 2016, the Associação dos Proissionais e Empresas de Mediação Imobiliária de Portugal [Association of Real estate Mediation Professionals and Companies of Portugal] released the results of a study which many considered surprising: Brazilians surpassed the Chinese as the nationality that was buying the most real 4. João Almeida Moreira, “Portugal é a nova Miami para os brasileiros ricos,” April 26, 2017, in: www.dinheirovivo.pt/economia/ portugal-e-a-nova-miami-para- os-brasileiros-ricos/. Accessed on January 2, 2018. 5. In the press of both Brazil and Portugal, it is not rare to ind references to Brazilians who have acquired real estate in Portugal, some of whom are widely known, such as minister Gilmar Mendes (Federal Supreme Court Judge and a key igure in Operation Lava Jato [Carwash]), physician Drauzio Varella, various actors, actresses and novela authors linked with Rede Globo (such as Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Cláudia Abreu, Paolla Oliveira, Giovanna Antonelli, Aguinaldo Silva and Glória Perez), as well as visual artists and musicians (including Adriana Varejão and Fafá de Belém). 6. João Almeida Moreira, op.cit. January 2, 2018. It was a dense dream, a profound ambition. – Ferreira de Castro, Emigrantes, 1928 The Brazilian architectural world is currently experiencing a generalized hangover after a period of euphoria that lasted only briely and left more sequelae then legacies. The severe political-economic crisis that the country is going through is notable in the shrinking of the architectural irms and in the slowdown of projects and business linked with civil construction. And the countless paralyzed construction sites—among which that of the Museu da Imagem do Som, in Rio de Janeiro, is probably the most eloquent example 1 — are the concrete expression of the failure, in architectural terms, of the sequence of international mega-events hosted recently by Brazil. In this context, the same environment of insecurity used as a justiication by Temer’s government to announce a politically suspect federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro 2 is also pushing Brazilian architects outside the country, in a new migratory cycle. The desire to take up residence abroad is not a novelty for a social group that has inancial resources and invests in the residential space as a distinctive mark, the material representation of a symbolic repertoire associated with the celebration of its social status and way of life. But while for a long time its favorite destination was Florida, in recent years it has become Europe. “Brazilians Swap Miami for Lisbon,” announced the Spanish newspaper El País in May 2016. 3 While Brazil was preparing to host the irst Olympics in Latin America, Portugal was thus emerging as the dream destination of those who sought a solution, through individual strategies, for a critical state associated with unprecedented levels of corruption, economic crisis, urban criminality and the precariousness of public services. 1. The new building of mis/Museu da Imagem do Som, along the seashore at Copacabana, is the result of a controversial international design competition in 2009, won by the irm Diller Scoidio + Renfro. The museum was conceived to be an architectural icon of Rio de Janeiro, and was to be inaugurated before the Olympics. Due to the inancial crisis of the state of Rio de Janeiro, however, the construction works have been paralyzed since 2016, with no resumption in sight. 2. In February 2018, President Michel Temer announced a federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro in response to the chaotic situation in the state’s public safety. This measure, provided for in the 1988 Constitution but never used before, means that the responsibility for public safety is transferred from the state to a military intervener. This action unleashed a wave of criticism, both for awakening the ghosts of the military dictatorship and for being a dubious political maneuver deployed in a presidential election year. And the situation was intensiied one month later, with the assassination of city councilwoman Marielle Franco, a ierce critic of the intervention and the recently nominated rapporteur of the commission created to monitor it. 3. Javier Martí del Barrio, “Brasileiros trocam Miami por Lisboa,” May 8, 2016, in: brasil. elpais.com/brasil/2016/05/05/ economia/1462480348_879062. html. Accessed on March 1, 2018. The Houses of Brazilians: Architectural, Migratory and Symbolic Flows between Brazil and Portugal Ana Luiza Nobre