BUDS Activities Rio de Janeiro
Visit to Favela da Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro. In Rio we visited one of the largest favelas in Latin America - Rocinha. In contrast we also visited the offices of AECOM, responsible for the masterplan for the Olimpic Park. Both visits highlighted issues related to deep economic and social inequalities and spatial segregation.
Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro.
During three weeks in March and April of 2015 the group of nine students and one lecturer from BUDS visited the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Niteroi, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Pelotas, Rio Grande and Sao Jose do Norte. Not all cities are represented below but more information can be found on our website. Apart from the city of Pelotas where we ran a week long Urban Design Workshops the visit to the other cities were short and focused around visiting institutions or planning and urban design practices for specialist talks. A great part of the trip was the how we were able to experience the cities as locals, using public transport, eating at local (non touristic) restaurants and interacting with local families. There is much to be learnt in talks but there are lessons that we learnt by interacting in the streets that can’t be reproduced in the classrooms.
Curitiba
IPPUC, Curitiba. In Curitiba the group visited the Institute of research and Urban Planning of Curitiba (Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba - IPPUC) and URBS which is the agency that manages local public transport. Local officers ran a series of talks and visits and we had the opportunity to experience the system as we move around the city. The buses and the bus stops definitely provide an efficient system but discussion with local users suggest that the system needs to be expanded and renewed to keep up with demand.
Rapid Transit System, Curitiba.
Porto Alegre
City Centre, Porto Alegre In Porto Alegre we concentrated in visiting the City Centre and discussing issues of density and public art. A highlight of the visit was the renovated building of the Public Market which works as a catalyst for the vitality of the area.
Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana
Pelotas
Sao Jose do Norte
Public Transport in Sao jose do Norte Sao Jose do Norte was originally a fishing village but is currently being heavily affected by the building of oil platforms in the outskirts of the city. The transformations are rapid and the city is struggling to provide the infrastructure to meet the demands.
Fishing related architecture in Sao Jose do Norte.
Workshops
In Pelotas the group was involved in several activities. The workshops held at Universidade Federal de Pelotas focused in developing urban design guidance for social housing in Brazil. The students also visited the Department of Urbanism at Pelotas City Council where they shared good practice in the design of Open Spaces with the team responsible for the redevelopment of one of the main Avenues in the city. An important role of BUDS was to contribute to the research project ‘Internationalisation of the Postgaduate Courses in Brazil’ by meeting with ViceChancellors and delivering a lecture about the importance of leaving the classroom and crossing borders while students for developing a more meaningful professional practice in the future.
At Pelotas City Council discussing design of Open Spaces. HOW WERE THE WORKSHOPS ORGANISED? Brief The project we worked on required us to act as international planning consultants who were hired by the city council to develop planning guidelines for specific development areas, in this case social housing development. The results should also be discussed and shared with the local Council and the University for further work and possible impact on the Brazilian Housing Policy. Meeting with Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research.
Workshop in Pelotas, Brazil. Working in association with Pelotas provided us with the experience of working across cultures within our subject area. We had to overcome language barriers to discuss, develop and showcase our ideas and designs. We also learned to importance of local public participation to create a responsive design.
In Oxford The work started in Oxford in the undergraduate Planning module Urban Design and Development. Within the module and before we went to Brazil we had to develop a generic design code based on research on Google Maps and street views of the site, videos created by the students from the our partner Brazilian university and by discussing with our module leader who is from Pelotas. In Pelotas, Brazil
Delivering the inaugural lecture for the Masters in Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Federal de Pelotas.
We formed groups with Brazilian students and were given a specific area to work on. Each group had to conduct a SWOT analysis of the area, discuss key issues with local residents and lecturers and develop a series of design guidelines to be tested in a local site. The work in Pelotas lasted for a week and each group presented their proposals to the university staff, colleagues, local Council officers and general public for discussion.
Brazil Urban Design Study
Final presentations in Pelotas, Brazil. At the beginning we were fully aware of the dissimilarity in cultural context and lifestyles and their possible impact on our design. By taking part in the workshops, we learnt that by saying yes to the differences and the impossibilities, we are saying yes to more. BUDS website (http://lnovoa1.wix.com/buds-website) was developed by Brookes students as a repository for the work.