EXPERIMENTAL INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP / TFG
DESIGNING ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING CITIES
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A new academic year begins in Brazil amid global turbulence and significant local challenges. As we know—and firmly believe—one of the most effective ways to respond to both local and global challenges is through the production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as through the education of young professionals who are increasingly culturally informed, critical, creative, and technically qualified.
It is within this context that the International Atelier – Designing Architecture, Building Cities / Final Graduation Project (TFG) is proposed. This pedagogical initiative seeks to create a collective, creative, and collaborative environment in which personal concerns about the contemporary world are transformed into Architecture and Urbanism.
By bringing together teaching, research, and outreach, the Atelier establishes itself as a formative educational space. It is conceived as a face-to-face environment of shared experiences and experimentation, deliberately positioning itself against tendencies that promote hyper-individualism and the homogenization of everyday practices.
The activity is structured around the reaffirmation of the formative, transdisciplinary, critical, and practical nature of the final graduation project, understood as a simulation of the multiple dimensions of professional practice. The contemporary professional must be prepared to fully exercise their skills, competencies, and professional attitudes, as well as to confront the complexity of real-world conditions.
In this sense, the Atelier draws on Anísio Teixeira’s understanding of the social role of the university, expressed in his assertion that “the university does not exist for itself, but to serve society” (Teixeira, Education Is Not a Privilege). This perspective informs the educational approach and public commitment that underpin the Atelier. What is proposed is the development of individual projects through collaborative, participatory, and forward-looking processes, with shared supervision involving students, professors, researchers, and internal and external guests.
The aim is to engage Architecture and Urbanism in depth, examining both their conceptual foundations as fields of knowledge and their instrumental dimensions as professional practice within a multi-scalar context. The work moves from global environmental and climate challenges to their concrete effects on the urban fabric—whether metropolitan, urban, or local—through the exploration, proposal, and development of increasingly complex qualitative, physical, and functional programs capable of addressing the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Key questions are therefore raised: What is the role of the architect in the twenty-first century? What limits, boundaries, and methodologies define contemporary professional practice? What tools are available, and how can they be employed critically and responsibly?
These questions are complemented by challenges related to the integration of Information and Communication Theory and digital tools—from BIM to Artificial Intelligence—into architectural and urban design processes, as well as by the ethical responsibilities of Architecture in the face of climate and social crises, extreme poverty, inequality, and global warming.
Within this framework, attention is also given to the role and responsibilities of the new generation, often referred to as Generation Z. These are among the issues that students are expected to investigate, reflect upon, and address through their own themes and critical positions.
The primary object of study is therefore the design process itself, rather than only its final outcome. The goal is to make explicit the process of critically interpreting reality and creating Architecture and Urbanism—from the initial emergence of interest in a given theme, through the first design proposals, to their subsequent development and materialization using available tools.
Throughout this process, architectural design is understood as a continuous, reflective, and open practice. In this sense, the ethical and public dimension of architectural work is reinforced by Renzo Piano’s reminder that “the architect is, above all, a citizen” (Piano, The Role of the Architect, p. 15). This central idea reaffirms design as a situated and responsible act, committed to society, and serves as a guiding principle for the Atelier’s activities.
Guided by these questions and under the general theme “Designing Architecture, Building Cities,” each student in the Atelier proposes their own theme and project, whether in Brazil or abroad. The work is grounded in the study and practice of Architecture and Urbanism across multiple scales—from the object to the urban dimension—exploring the relationships between thinking and making, city-building, and the environment. This constitutes the conceptual and practical framework that supports the development of individual investigations.
Finally, it is important to emphasize that the entire structure of the International Atelier – Designing Architecture, Building Cities / TFG is based on two pedagogical pillars that have long been present in architectural education in Brazil. For more than two decades, these principles have been part of the Pedagogical Political Project of FAU Mackenzie and are now incorporated into the National Curriculum Guidelines.
These pillars are the so-called active learning methodologies—particularly Problem-Based Learning (PBL)—and, above all, student protagonism, understood as a fundamental tool for the development and consolidation of professional skills, competencies, and attitudes. Accordingly, the depth and scope of the proposed activities, while respecting minimum institutional requirements, are directly proportional to the level of engagement of both students and the academic team, who continuously define and redefine their individual and collective objectives throughout the process.
Ao trabalho!
Será um prazer ter sua participação em nosso Atelier!
Abraço!
Equipe LPP
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FICHA TÉCNICA
. Tema Geral: Projetar Arquitetura, Construir Cidades
. Tema Específico: Livre escolha do estudante
. Área de estudo: A definir
. Enfoques: variados, de acordo com as propostas individuais apresentadas individualmente
. Escalas de estudo, intervenção e projeto: do desenho urbano ao projeto do detalhe construtivo, da intervenção metropolitana à escala local
. Duração: 1 ano letivo
. Público: alunos de graduação 9ª etapa – matutino, vespertino e noturno
. Inscrição: on line inscreva-se aqui
. Matrícula: normal no TFG
. Horário de atividades: preferencialmente tarde e noite, de acordo com cronograma
. Cronograma: o cronograma final será adaptado de acordo com o cronograma oficial do TFG Mack e em função do número de participantes.
. Desenvolvimento dos trabalhos: Os trabalhos serão desenvolvidos individualmente
. Metodologia: Serão empregadas e aplicadas metodologias ativas e colaborativas, com orientação de professores e pesquisadores do do Mackenzie e das Instituições parceiras.
. Língua: Inglês, Italiano, Francês, Espanhol e Português
. Vagas: 10 (dez)
. Custo adicional: não há custos adicionais.
. Poderão ocorrer atividades externas nacionais e internacionais, opcionais. Os custos destas atividades opcionais correrão por conta dos estudantes.
. Natureza da atividade: 100% presencial
. Certificados: por se tratar de atividade multidisciplinar, serão conferidos certificados de ensino, de pesquis e de extensão durante o desenvolvimento dos trabalhos.
EQUIPE
Professores Permanentes
Guilherme Michelin, Antônio Carlos Sant’Anna, Guilherme Michelin, Valter Caldana (coord)
Romeo Farinella (UniFe)
Tutores LPP
Maria Fernanda Cubas de Morais Prado, Julia Detolvo, Graziele Goes, Carlos A. Pinheiro de Souza, Maíra Vucovix, Rita Patron
Consultores e colaboradores (pro bono)
Eduardo Abrunhosa, Roseli D'Elboux, Marili Vieira, Marcelo Teixeira, Nieri Araújo, Luiz Eduardo Guimarães Dias, Ana Wilheim, Mauro Calliari, Thaís Fonseca, Mariana Rolim (UAM), Andres Borthagaray – Universidade de Palermo/AR, Gianluigi Mondaini, Paolo Bonvini – Universidade Politécnica delle Marche, Gabriela Restaino – Universidade La Sapienza di Roma, Alfredo Alietti – Politécnico de Milano e Univ. de Ferrara e equipe de pesquisadores do LPP e do Grupo Arquitetura e Construção
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