Rural Studio: contributions to the learning process of architecture in Brazil

Abstract

This master's study research project aims to deepen on two experiences that effectively has been innovating the teaching of architecture with the perspective of introducing concrete construction practices in learning: the experimental plot of FAU/USP and Rural Studio at Auburn University in Alabama, USA. The experimental plot of FAU/USP, in the last thirteen years, has developed, as part of curricular activities, construction practices with students. The Rural Studio, an educational project that brings together students and teachers, has the working methods of a laboratory for teaching and outreach, developing projects to benefit the community and subsequently undertaking the construction process of houses and slums of the southern United States collectively. The study will be conducted looking at the dialogue between theory and practice within the Faculty of Architecture through students' interaction with reality. That will take place evaluating the aspects of the relationship between the production of housing prototypes and academic experience and reflection (education) in order to understand the extent to which such activities can contribute to the Brazilian experience. For this, the research aims at first to relate the evolution of the housing movement, public housing policies in Brazil and the theories of the group "New Architecture" with initiatives resulting in the Schools of Architecture such as the Laboratories of Experimental Housing and Experimental Plots. Secondly, it will examine the experimental plot of FAU/USP, focusing on how this area of construction practices can be extended to activities within communities. Finally, a comparison will be made between the Brazilian initiative and the American group to understand the possible contributions that can be incorporated into the brazilian reality. This project seeks also to rescue and bring to the debate regarding the teaching of architecture in Brazil, the contribution of the architect Samuel Mockbee, a founder of Rural Studio, deepening the study of his career as a teacher and architect, and so his ideas, vision of the world and mode of education. By recovering innovative experiences, this project also aims to provide a necessary renewal of the teaching of architecture in Brazil, bringing the theory of constructive practice and the University of the community. (AU)