Summer School - Practice & Theory of Sustainable and Social Architecture, Portugal

In 2016, in the frame of the Actors of Urban Change programme, Critical Concrete will hold an innovative Architecture Summer School in Porto, both practical and theoretical, in the neighborhood of Bonfim. In collaboration with the Junta de Freguesia do Bonfim, students and teachers will rehabilitate houses that will be included in the social housing programme Habitar.

In 2015 Critical Concrete was founded with the ambition of promoting a new model: the refurbishment of abandoned places for social housing and cultural initiatives through summer camp programs centered around sustainable architecture and art in context.

Thus, the newly created organisation aims to generate a cultural and social space in cohesion with a playground for architectural experimentation.

In the Summer Courses, we offer a completely unconventional and cutting edge program. We will work on innovative solutions for social housing, while simultaneously developing new working methods. Both students and young professionals will explore models of cooperative planning in interdisciplinary groups, design and build their projects, and engage with the surrounding communities.

Practice and theory of social and sustainable architecture

From 27/06 until 17/07/2016*, Critical Concrete will hold an innovative Architecture Summer School in Porto, both practical

and theoretical, in the neighborhood of Bonfim.

In collaboration with the Junta de Freguesia do Bonfim, students and teachers will rehabilitate houses that will be included in the

Partners (among others!) social housing programme Habitar.

Practical Workshops

Monitored by senior architects and designers, the students will build during the day, experimenting with the reality of a construction site that aims to be their conceptual playground. They will have the chance to discuss and argue the development of the building, through a participatory design process, and thus leave a tangible trace in their first construction experience.

The groups of 5-10 students work with one practical mentor on a project. Every week, groups switch mentors, so that each student has the chance to work with all of them.

Theoretical Workshops

Almost every late afternoon will be dedicated to discussions, lectures and presentations, screenings, complementing the practical activities. Some of these moments will be open to the public, and will have thus a chance to engage with the surrounding communities. This theoretical workshops will take then the form of public events, such as a cutting-edge summer movie programme, public lectures and discussions, so that the neighbourhood and visiting students can benefit from each other’s presence.

The students will enrich their experience, learn with experts in their fields and, similarly to a crowd funding campaign, finance the initial phase of an ambitious production space in Porto.

Courses’ Aims

This architecture summer school aims to:

1. Participate in the refurbishment of three houses that will be under a social housing programme
2. Collectively design and build. Participatory processes in social architecture
3. Contribute to the neighbourhood’s cultural life, by opening our doors for some theoretical courses, evening and screenings
4. Construct the basis for a new production space in Porto, playing with popular formats (summer screening, markets, balls, etc.)
5. Development of high quality furnitures and architecture with a small budget and restricted time.
6. Offer the students a new language of skills and techniques, both in community engagement and building strategies.
7. Offer the students a supportive network for their future project and their promotion, opening new professional perspectives
8. Offer a good mix of practical work, monitored by international and local mentors, and theoretical work, all this working in the frame of a social work engagement.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://criticalconcrete.com/