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Stay at the Conference Venue
WINDSOR BARRA HOTEL
Located in front of privileged Barra da Tijuca beach, the Windsor Barra is surrounded by beauty. Exuberant nature enters through its doors and blends with its 5-star elegance. Barra da Tijuca is Rio´s most modern living complex and community; sophisticated, vibrant and offering innumerable attractions such as fine bars and restaurants serving world class cuisine, air-conditioned mega shopping malls featuring world famous fashions and designers labels, theme parks, ecological reserves and sports of all types.
OneRio de Janeiro is an exuberant and cosmopolitan city with very pleasant weather in September. Easy access from all over the world, allows participation of delegates from all the IUMRS affiliates societies to come to friendly Rio and feel at home.
Rio is not only a beautiful city but also a vibrant scientific, intellectual, and cultural center in Brazil. ICAM 2009 in Rio will be the event for an update on the challenges at the frontiers of Material Science and related technologies.
One of the major economic and cultural hubs of South America, the City of Rio de Janeiro sits at the heart of the Southeastern Region where 60% of the Brazilian GDP is concentrated. A cosmopolitan metropolis, known worldwide for its scenic beauty and its natural resources, the city provides a harmonious and agreeable environment for its inhabitants and visitors, for both leisure and work, which combined with its infrastructure, makes Rio an important center for commerce and services, with the advantage of a modern and diversified industrial sector. The City of Rio de Janeiro, which occupies an area of 1.261 Km2, and has a population of 5.850.544 (according to the IBGE 2000 census), recognizes that one of its main virtues is the kindness and hospitality with which its residents welcome all visitors.
The City of Rio de Janeiro receives annually more than 2 million foreign tourists, which according to EMBRATUR makes it the most visited city in the country, with an approximate share of 33% of the total number of foreign tourists. Added to this more than 5 million Brazilian tourists visit the city per year. With its ample infrastructure of tourism services, Rio de Janeiro is ranked among the top destinations in the world in reception for cultural, commercial, technical and scientific events – fairs, symposia, congresses, conventions and exhibitions. Its exuberant natural resources include 90 Km of beaches, the Tijuca National Park, which includes the largest urban forest in the world, with 3,200 hectares of Atlantic Forest, the State Parks of Pedra Branca, Desengano and Chacrinha, covering an area of 48.500 hectares, and the Rodrigo de Freitas, Jacarepaguá, Camorim, Tijuca and Marapendi lakes and lagoons.
Rio de Janeiro is the capital and the hub of Brazilian fashion, whose designers and models are becoming more and more famous on the international circuit. Fashion is without doubt the major attraction in the shopping malls of the South Zone and Barra, where there is an infinite range of clothing for men, women and children. Standard hours at the malls are 10am to 10pm from Monday to Saturday, and 3pm to 9pm on Sundays. All the national and international labels are available, as well as export quality shoes, CDs, toys and sports goods.
In the South Zone the main shopping malls are the Rio Sul and the Shopping da Gávea, competing with the stores and smaller malls of Ipanema. Garcia D'Ávila street is where international names like Vuiton and Cartier can be found, plus some of the largest jewelry and precious stone stores in the world, such as H. Stern, Amsterdam Sauer and Ben Bros.
Rio de Janeiro is the cultural capital of Brazil. Over its nearly 500 years of history, it has been the spring board for all the country’s principal cultural exports, and the port of entry for major international art exhibitions or musical events bringing top names from the classical to the contemporary. Rio’s architecture embraces churches and buildings dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, blending with the world renowned designs of the 20th. Rio was home to the Portuguese Imperial family and capital of the country for many years, and was influenced by Portuguese, English and French architecture. Today, these wonderful old buildings contrast with the high rise ultra-modern intelligent structures, in a city that knows how to progress while at the same time preserving its past.
There are more than 50 museums, with collections that help to relate Brazil’s 500 year history. They can be found in buildings listed as national historic heritage, or in award-winning buildings, illustrating the creativity of Brazilian architecture. The principal cultural centers, such as the Modern Art Museum, the National Museum of Fine Arts and the Bank of Brazil Cultural Center are geared today to show international exhibits under conditions of safety and conservation identical to the best museums in the world.
In the borough of Santa Teresa, the Montmartre or Soho of Rio, there is a row of houses dating from the start of the 20th century, with around 50 ateliers where more than 80 artists work, and who during the year open their doors to the public to show works of art that vary from the classic to the contemporary. In Lapa, a neighboring borough nearer to the center of town, antique shops live alongside dance halls, both preserving important cultural habits of the city.
In the field of music, Rio is the birthplace of the samba, which has its greatest celebration in February, during Carnival. The parade of the principal Samba Schools is a unique and unforgettable spectacle.
In the South Zone, along the sea front, the city preserves the memory of names such as Tom Jobim and João Gilberto, who wrote the first chords of the Bossa Nova. The greatest names in Brazilian popular music have always gravitated to Rio from all over the country, for various reasons such as the number of clubs offering live music, the fact that the international recording companies set up their head offices here, or because Rio is the home of the greatest TV network in the country.
Nature also has its cultural influence. One has just to visit the Botanical Gardens, with one of the most important collections of plants in the world - or the Tijuca Forest, the green heart of this marvelous city.
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