Latin America at the crossroads The announcement of Rio de Janeiro as the 2016 Olympic host city has placed Latin America on the worlds stage. Latin America has not been the centre of international architectural attention and pilgrimage since the mid 20th century when economic growth triggered the development of Modernist urban design and architecture on an epic scale. Since then the centralised utopian planned model has broken down. Mass migrations from the countryside and erection of informal settlements have left cities socially