Mapping Brazil - Architecture: Education

International events and debate about architecture
Workshops, lectures, seminar, forums: the wealth of opportunities for the teaching of architecture in Brazil has grown considerably in recent years both in formal education settings and on the initiative of architects keen to encourage more in-depth debate about contemporary architecture.

It was as part of this trend that three recent graduates, Bruno Braga, Bruno Perdigão and Igor Ribeiro, joined forces in 2011 to set up the Forum of Young Latin American Architects (Forum de Jovens Arquitetos Latino-Americanos, Fjal) in Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil. The third meeting of the forum was held in 2015, attracting young architects from Brazil and other countries in the region to discuss the profession, share ideas and working methods and demonstrate what they have designed – from budget housing to private residences, from government competitions to projects run by NGOs.

In July 2015, the first Rio Academy was held in Rio de Janeiro, designed to set a new agenda for meetings of architects. It attracted professionals from Brazil and abroad, like Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Triptyque, Rua Arquitetos, Bjarke Ingels (BIG), Alejandro Aravena, Giancarlo Mazzanti, Elizabeth and Christian de Portzamparc and Reiner de Graaf (OMA). Talks and workshops were given, and proposed solutions for Rio de Janeiro were submitted to the city hall.

Arq.Futuro was created in 2011 as an architecture and urbanism discussion forum. That year, the speakers on architecture were Brazilian João Filgueiras Lima (Lelé), Jacques Herzog (Herzog & de Meuron) and Karen Stein (Pritzker). All the material produced by Arq.Futuro is recorded and published in printed and audio-visual formats.

A Biennial of Architecture is held in São Paulo by Instituto dos Arquitetos do Brasil (IAB-SP), a Brazilian architecture association. The 2009 and 2011 events were criticised for the way they were devised. In 2013, in an unprecedented effort by IAB-SP and the curators, Guilherme Wisnik and Ligia Nobre, the biennial was held in different venues in the city, taking the debate on architecture to the general public. However, the difficulties continue and the directors of IAB-SP have postponed the 2015 biennial to 2016.

Integration with foreign universities
The Architectural Association, based in London, holds regular workshops in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro that combine urban studies with parametric design as part of its AA Visiting Schools project. The July 2015 workshop was held in partnership with Escola da Cidade in São Paulo.

Forging partnerships with Brazilian and foreign universities and architects is part of the ethos of Escola da Cidade. In 2015, they will hold workshops together with IUAV in Venice, Italy, and Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, and in Brazil with the University of Konstanz, from Germany, and Finis Terrae University, from Chile. Escola da Cidade also holds an international seminar every year, normally in April.

In Rio, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-Rio) often hold conferences and workshops involving foreign professionals or in partnership with other universities, either in their own premises or at other venues, like Studio-X.

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