São Paulo

Tuesday 16 – Thursday 25 July 2013

The premise of the 2013 São Paulo Visiting School is to re-define urban architecture through creating a symbiotic fusion between landscape, infrastructure and building design.  Workshops, lectures and seminars will challenge the environmentally destructive urban planning of the 1960’s local government of São Paulo, which destroyed major water systems to build a network of macro-scaled roadways and zoning divisions, which has caused flooding, pollution and urban decay.  Instead, the Visiting School promotes an intricate integration of natural eco-systems within new multi-modal interfaces connecting urban transport and building infrastructures. This will be achieved through the use of advanced computational design incorporating parametric design and interactive media, to create highly responsive landscape-urban systems.

Design work will focus on the urban interface of the high-speed bullet train that will connect Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which will link the international airports of these three major Brazilian cities, as well as a number of important urban hubs within each city. This presents a major challenge for the city of São Paulo, which will have to completely redesign a major urban region, including the de-activating of a small airport along the city`s main roadway artery and river, the Marginal.  This project urgently needs an intelligent and highly organized integration of water-systems, landscape and urban infrastructure, which the São Paulo Visiting Workshop will propose using digital design and fabrication. 

Specifically, participants will learn computational design using rhino, and grasshopper, as well as the use of  laser cutting and rapid-prototyping. The workshop will emphasize the use of environmentally and structurally responsive computation processes, such as the Grasshopper plug-ins of GECO, Galapagos, Kangaroo. The workshop will be taught by AA Tutors and Assistants led by Eva Castro, Studio Master of the AA Landscape Urbansim Graduate Programme and Director of Plasma Studio (www.plasmastudio.com), as well as local architects and specialists, and be a part of the 2013 International Festival of Electronic Language (FILE) an avant-garde exhibition of interactive electronic technology.  The workshop is open to architecture and design students and professionals worldwide.

Applications

The deadline for applications is 9 July 2013.  An application can be made by completing the Online application form or downloading the PDF application and emailing it  to visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk.

All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required for entry to Brazil, and are advised to contact their home embassy early. After payment of fees, the AA School can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop. 

Fees

The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £695 per participant which includes a £60 Visiting Student Membership, made payable to the AA School of Architecture. Fees do not include flights, accommodation or meals. Students need to bring their own laptops and model making tools. Please ensure that all equipment you are bringing is covered by insurance. The AA School takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen whilst travelling to/from or attending the workshop.

Eligibility
The workshop is open to current architecture and design students and professionals worldwide.