About BUDS Being an international lecturer, I recognise the value of exposing students to different cultural contexts. I want my students to experience other cultures and become more critical and thoughtful individuals and professionals. In order to do that I have created BUDS – a co-curricular activity focusing on fostering cross-cultural, real-life experiences of urban design and planning for students from Brookes and from partner universities in Brazil.
by Dr. Laura Novo de Azevedo BUDS coordinator
The first run of BUDS was in May 2013 when a team with five Planning students (Nina Sharp, Sean Kelly, Beth Teal, Suzanne Lion, Esmeralda Shameti) and I went to Brazil to work on a threeweek project collaborating with Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, local councils and deprived communities in the cities of Florianopolis, Porto Alegre and Pelotas.
The model adopted for BUDS questions traditional hierarchies and encourages partnership between lecturers and students. All students are engaged in the project as partners and help building the concept, organising activities and fundraising. For the students who took part in the first run of BUDS, the value of the experience went far beyond the provision of an international context for understanding urban design. The exposure to different aspects of Brazilian culture and their work with local communities on problems caused by a high degree of social inequality offered Brookes students a transformative experience:
BUDS provided me with my most rewarding educational experience to date by encouraging me to participate in a cross-cultural learning experience…involving real life situations, elements of which I have been able to carry forward into my professional life (Sean Kelly, MSc Planning). The impact of BUDS is also strong amongst the students from Brazilian universities:
The work […] raised students’ interest for urban design and started a series of masters’ research projects …We had three final year students’ projects using the BUDS’ methodology short-listed for national awards (Dr. Eduardo Rocha, Coordinator, Masters in Architecture and Urbanism, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Brazil).
The dissemination of the first experience of BUDS raised students’ interests in taking part in cocurricular activities at the Department of Planning at OBU. BUDS 2013 encouraged the development of other co-curricular activities and research involving our partners from Brazil (Universidade Federal de Pelotas) and undergraduate and postgraduate students from across the Faculty. The success of BUDS 2013 also resulted in a higher number of students wanting to take part in its second edition of the project. BUDS 2015 counted with nine students from various cultural backgrounds who were equally engaged in fundraising, organising and delivering workshops and lectures in Brazil. The trip took place in April 2015 and the team travelled to the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Pelotas and Sao Jose do Norte. Amongst the main learning experiences were a visit to Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro and a discussion about the Olympic Park in the offices of AECOM Brazil. In Curitiba the group was received by the Municipal Planning Department and was able to experience and learn about the model Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system which puts the city at the forefront of transport led planning and development.
Fundaraising: cake sale at Brookes.
In the city of Pelotas the students engaged with staff and students (undergraduates and posgraduates) from the course of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidade Federal de Pelotas to build on the work started in BUDS 2013 and further work on a cross-cultural approach for the development of urban design principles for delivering sustainable urban extensions in contexts of fast growing economies and high development pressure. BUDS 2015 was partially sponsored by the Department of Planning at OBU, Brookes Alumni, Santander Universities, Universidade Federal de Pelotas and the Brazilian government funding for a research on internationalisation of the curriculum of postgraduate courses in Brazil developed in collaboration between Universidade Federal de Pelotas and Oxford Brookes Univeristy (CrossCult). The work presented in this exhibition is a sample of the complexity of results from the workshops held in Pelotas and the several talks and discussions held with institutions in the other cities we visited. The photographs were organised by themes which we find relevant to all those involved in the disciplines of the Built Environment. Please make sure you scan the QR codes and access the BUDS website for a more complete view of the work. We hope you can provide us with feedback about the group, about the work and about your experience of seeing Brazil through the eyes of others.
BUDS team on a Skype meeting with Brazilian partners.
Linh Trinh Pham Hai - Vietnamese
Sean Vincent Kelly - Scottish
Avar Almukhtar - Kurdish from Iraq
I am a former Disney cartoonist wannabe, a vocalist, and now a final year student majoring in City and Regional Planning at Oxford Brookes University. My passion has grown from drawing people to designing cities. My interest lays in Urban Design, Architecture and Fine Art. I am seeking experience and understanding of international development both in planning and design. Participating in BUDS 2015 has given me a unique opportunity to work cross-culturally with Brazilian private and public urban design and planning consultancies. The project also helped me clarify my aspired career path as an international urban designer.
I am a postgraduate spatial planning student specialising in developing and transitional regions. I currently study part time whilst working full time in practice as a planning officer, mainly dealing with new school developments in the UK. I participated in the successful Brazil Urban Design Study 2013 project and was keen to work with Dr Laura Novo De Azevedo again to be part of BUDS 2015. Being part of this project has enhanced many of my skills, especially communication and research and has influenced my future career aspirations by providing a unique international experience.
I am an Architect and Urban Designer. Currently undertaking the final year of my PhD in Urban Design. My research is on place-identity in historic cities, looking at how urban design strategies can help in retaining local identity in places that undergo rapid urban development. Prior to the PhD, I have worked in practice and was involved in master planning for affordable housing complex in Erbil. Being part of BUDS 2015 allowed me to explore and gain international experience by working with Brazilian universities and Governmental authorities. Additionally it gave me the opportunity to test my research skills in a international context.
Freddy Hedberg - Swedish/Australian
Sebastian Baran - Polish
Pablo Newberry - British/Mexican
I am currently studying City and Regional Planning and will do the MPlan at Oxford Brookes University. I love experiencing new cultures, meeting new people and learning new things. I am also very interested in aesthetics, the way things look and feel. One of my passions is to convey an experience I have felt in a certain form (whether it is from media, a city, or even a subject area of interest) to designing an open space.
I have just finished studying MSc in Spatial Planning at Oxford Brookes University, as an associate student. I am interested in finding balance between planning and technology. Being a part of BUDS was a complex experience that allowed me to test my skills as a planner, and use the strengths of each person in the international team to create high quality design with good sense of place.
Pablo is an enthusiastic urban planning student entering his Masters year of study. He enjoys a great deal of variety in his life and takes pleasure in travelling, reading, exercise and festivities. Pablo’s current ambition is to use planning and design skills developed at Brookes to help solve problems and improve conditions for global cities undergoing rapid urbanisation and transition. This aspiration is driven by personal views on equality and was reinforced by experiences during his time in Brazil as a part of BUDS 2015: above all visiting favelas and engaging with urbanism students at the Federal University of Pelotas.
Andrea Pandolfo Damiani - Italian
Christopher Howells - London, United Kingdom.
Charlie Herd - Oxford, United Kingdom
Hi! My name is Andrea, I've got a background in sociology and I am currently an exchange student ad Brookes University and doing my master in Urbanism at EUP Paris. Participating to BUDS project has been highly rewarding and stimulating, allowing me to see how the urban design principles we study may apply in a non-european context. Besides social sciences (urban studies and design being, in my views, a social science), my interests lays in languages, music, literature and architecture.
Hello, I am a fourth year master's student in the department of Planning. I am taking the Urban Design and the Regeneration specialisations for my dissertation year; over my degree I have come to be interested both in how public spaces are used and the politics involved in why it might be that some areas are regenerated and developed over others. Going to Brazil has allowed me to experience and apply an international perspective to my interests; thinking in a different socio-cultural setting while traversing a language barrier was very rewarding.
I’m a fourth year masters student studying Planning and Urban Design at Oxford Brookes University. I find cities fascinatingly complex and appreciate the challenge of creating new solutions for urban issues. Over the course I have become increasingly interested in how place identity is formed and the role of built features in the navigation of urban environments. Participating in BUDS 2015 has been an invaluable experience. The opportunity to visit Brazil has allowed me explore different kinds of urban landscapes not found in the UK, and has expanded my knowledge of ‘good’ place creation in a wider cultural and international context.
INFORMATION:
Brazil Urban Design Study
All details of the project developed by BUDS including the research projects funded by Santander Student Scholarships can be found at BUDS website. Go to the address http://lnovoa1.wix.com/budswebsite or scan the QR code.