The digital atlas imagineRio allows viewers to explore the social and urban evolution of Rio de Janeiro over its entire history, as it existed and as it has been imagined. In imagineRio historical maps, views of the city created by artists, ground floor plans by architects, and urban reforms by city leaders are located in time and space. On entering imagineRio, historians can move the timeline to a specific year and set the map to a specific location, and then study a specific site and moment of historical interest. Georeferenced historical maps can be toggled on and off, and geocoded historical imagery can be examined in depth. The user can search for roads, buildings, utilities, and natural features. Because Rio de Janeiro’s urban fabric and natural environment has changed so much over time, this digital atlas reveals how the city was lived in over time.

Developed by professors Farès el-Dahdah and Alida Metcalf in collaboration with Axis Maps, imagineRio was most recently supported by a Digital Art History grant from the Getty Foundation, thanks to which it was possible to integrate the photography collections of the Instituto Moreira Salles in Rio de Janeiro. The project would also not have been possible without the financial and technical support of Rice University’s office for Global and Digital Strategy,  Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology, Fondren Library, and the Department of History, nor without content from the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro, and Arquivo Nacional, among many other sources.

imagineRio is available in English and Portuguese.

To enter imagineRio, in English, please click on the following link: https://imaginerio.org/#en

To enter imagineRio in Portuguese, please click on the following link: https://imaginerio.org/#pr