Every time WhatsApp Messenger stops working for whatever reason, Brazilians take to social media to joke that they’re going to have to find a “big ear” (orelhão) in order to communicate with their friends and family. The playful and evocative name is the nickname for the country’s uniquely designed public phones, which occupied cities all over Brazil until the cell phone explosion.
The orelhão was a huge part of Brazilian urban life and its large shell design has become iconic. Replicas inspired by the originals can also be found in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Angola.
However, instead of being hailed and preserved as a triumph of design, public phones in Brazil are now decaying and virtually unused, being only a memory of their former glory.
The story of the orelhão began in the 1970s when the government decided to place a large number of public phones in Brazilian cities. Few households owned their own phone, as buying a line was prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of the population. At that time, phone calls were typically placed in local businesses such as bars and bakeries.
The traditional telephone booth model was ruled out of the question immediately, deemed to be too expensive. The solution needed to be something simpler, cheaper, but still private enough to...
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