Christopher Gaffney
Independent Scholar
Christopher Gaffney is a geographer whose work focuses on the intersection of sports and urban environments. Following on his first book, Temples of the Earthbound Gods, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study the impact of the World Cup on stadiums in Brazil. He lived in Rio de Janeiro between 2009 and 2014, teaching in the Graduate School of Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Federal Fluminense and ran the website Hunting White Elephants.
In Brazil, Gaffney conducted research on the history and culture of football stadiums in the context of shifting urban landscapes and examined urban, political and economic interventions for host cities of the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He joined the Space & Organization group at the University of Zürich as Senior Research Fellow in January 2015, embarking on a four-year team project comparing the planning and impact of mega-events in Russia and Brazil.
Presentations at Play the Game conferences:
“Não vai ter Copa”: Brazilians vs. Brazil 2014 - Christopher Gaffney, Play the Game 2013 (link to Prezi)