Where: BrasilPortugal PDC Place will take place at Instituto Federal do Maranhão (IFMA), Brazil and Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon (FA-UL). The main objectives will be to find bridges for dialogue related to the social construction of places, using participatory design practices to reflect with different communities in both countries about what it means to be on the margins and to be on a depopulated territory. The aim is to explore modes of reflection and action that allow us to reframe these notions, challenge them and create devices that facilitate transformative changes. Bringing together all levels of education at both institutions (technical and higher), we propose to organize debates, present ongoing research projects and hold participatory workshops, taking advantage of the multiplicity of perspectives from both countries and (re)encountering contact points and starting points for future collaborations.

When: 5 August 2024 AND 11 October 2024

Why: BrasilPortugal PDC Place seeks to bring together two distinct realities, one located in Brazil and the other in Portugal, taking as its object of analysis – and practical experimentation – sociocultural contexts in which actions are necessary to resolve inherent issues. A PDC Place that aims not to reduce the category of place to a geographic location, but to view it as a place of practice, an environment of phenomena and social exchanges (Yi-Fu Tuan, 2013). We imagine a PDC Place that constitutes an opportunity for design knowledge built through dialogue and encounters. Therefore, for the joint search for indications of possible alternatives that are fairer, more effective, socially innovative and democratic regarding a desired objective, related to mentioned questions, which we will set on the agenda, and relevant to each of these places.
We will put into debate the experiences that emerged from the relational research practice with two communities in both countries, whose central themes revolve around socio-spatial inclusion on urban margins (Maranhão, Brazil) and social innovation in places with low demographic density (Mountain Villages, Portugal), to share experiences and co- construct possible common methodological paths, even in different realities. In this sense, we will seek to debate the visions of design that distance themselves from functionalist practices and approach a relational dimension with life (Escobar,2019). This PDC Place aims to test ways and means, through dialogue and sharing, of making our knowledge as designers, the available tools and incentives from academia (at all levels of education) or government, available to those who are inserted in these realities.

Who:
Ana, Melo CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, anamelo[a]fa.ulisboa.pt
Camila, Andrade CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, camila[at]ifma.edu.br

PDC Place Activities
We intend for BrasilPortugal PDC Place to be able to establish learning and proximity between theory and practices of participatory design in two very different and very particular territories. Also, although departing from these initial points, we aim to explore broader explorations.