Cycle of Open Classes - 'Urbanisation of Poverty'

The social role of the architect.

The Open Classes - Urbanization of Poverty: 'The social role of the architect' seek to promote a space for sharing experiences on the challenges faced by the technicians - and especially by architects – within their intervention in the built environment, in contexts of intense poverty and disparities, as well as to discuss the limitations and potential of housing policies, urban improvements and equitable management of the built environment.

These Open Classes, through the presence of guests of recognized academic and / or professional background with practical experience in the themes, promotes the presentation and discussion of the challenges faced in the design and implementation of intervention programs in precarious contexts.

These classes will be presented in English (whenever possible).

Programme:

16 November 2016 . 'Disputed futures. Two cases of urban restructuration and social recomposition: Bairro do Aleixo (Porto) and El Cabanyal (València)' by João Queirós (ESE-IPP) and Aitor Varea Oro (Habitar Porto)

23 November 2016 . 'Urban aspirations in Mozambique: Recalling the history of planning the peripheral' by Tiago Castela (CES-UC)

30 November 2016 . 'The compartmentalization of the world: (im)mobility, refugees and refugee camps' by Pedro F. Neto (ICS-UL)

15 December 2016 . 'Architecture in the margins' by Joana Cameira (International Committee of the Red Cross)

[date to be announced] . 'Professional practice in Angola' by Paulo Barros (Iperforma)


All classes will take place at 9:00 on the Room CCR1, Casa Cor-de-Rosa - FAUP.

This Open Classes cycle is coordinated by Professor Álvaro Domingues, the architect Ana Silva Fernandes and the MDT research group – 'Territory Morphologies and Dynamics' of CEAU-FAUP.
This initiative follows the previous Ciclo de Aulas Abertas – Urbanização da Pobreza: “Experiências no Grande Sul”, which took place in the year 2015-16.

The subject "Urbanisation of Poverty":

Given the most recent and contrasting global urbanisation dynamics, and the current professional challenges at international level, this subject - set within the Masters studies at FAUP - suggests the discussion of the differences in the processes of production of the built environment, including discussing the visibility and the role of low-income population, both focusing on non-Western contexts (the experiences in Latin America, Asia and Africa) as in the critical areas of Western contexts (the development of social policies and their current situation).

This subject seeks to establish a broad understanding of the issues related to the urbanisation process, not only through the discussion of extreme disparities and / or limited resources, but also within a framework of multi-stakeholder processes. In these contexts, the professional practice of the architect / urban planner is rarely placed only within a customer-service relationship, but rather with different stakeholders in the decision-making process, encompassing recurrently entities such as public structures regulated with the territory and social policies ( at central, municipal and / or local level), external investors, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, local associations and residents, putting the architect / urban planner in the role of mediator and facilitator.

This subject intends to building a critical overview towards paradoxical realities, discussing methodologies and intervention instruments, constraints and capabilities, experience and strategic guidelines for work within extended teams.