summer school

Interactive Knowledge Production in Self-organized urban areas

14-25 March 2018

Rio de Janeiro

the summer school

The collaborative summer school Interactive Knowledge Production in Self-organized Urban Areas took place in March 2018 within the framework of a Brazilian-German research cooperation, and with the sponsorship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The summer school engaged 13 German and 15 Brazilian students from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban and spatial planning, and urban design from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning and the Department for Urban Renewal and Sustainable Development of the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Design of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), and the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU/UFRJ).

organization

The summer school was organized by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning of the TU Berlin, in collaboration with the PROURB / Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Design of the BTU Cottbus, the Institute for Applied Research in Urban Futures of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, and the Department of Department for Urban Renewal and Sustainable Development.

team and guest lectures

goals

The summer school aimed at developing various interactive and conceptual approaches to come up with solutions for the integrated development of Solano Trindade in terms of housing, open spaces and socio-economic/local infrastructure. It was intended to facilitate and transfer integrated knowledge about the current research fields of urban metabolism, systemic thinking and the social production of space; but also, at gaining and exchanging local community knowledge. A fundamental part of interpreting local knowledge was the decoding of human and non-human interactions. Furthermore, special emphasis was given to the potentials of transdisciplinary approaches that encourage Global North-South teaching and vice-versa.

context:

Solano Trindade

The occupation Solano Trindade in Duque de Caxias exists since 2014. Due to the lack of available land and strong political-economic external interests, the self-organized community faces a lot of pressure and distrust. Beyond socio-political pressures from external local actors, the settlement faces risk of natural hazards such as heavy rainfall, and flooding events.

structure of the summer school and participants

German and Brazilian students, a transdisciplinary team of experts and local actors joined for the summer school, which was structured in three core stages. The first and second stage consisted in the transfer of specialized knowledge on teaching and research methods for approaching global and local issues, accompanied by contextual knowledge provided during guided walks through informal and formal areas of Rio de Janeiro. The third staged focused on the collaborative on-site work at Solano Trindade and the implementation of a dual modus workshop approach.

workshop results:

scenarios and interventions

Through collaborative work formats that included: joint day excursions and field research, collaborative and diagrammatic mapping, storytelling as a narrative exchange and a systemic scenario workshop, the students developed 4 development scenarios for Solano Trindade. Plus, the summer schooled closed with a social event + exhibition on site, and the joint construction of micro-interventions.