2014/15 Design Studio 5: Migrant City / Lisbon
[40 credits]
This project requires you to investigate themes of cultural identity, home, neighbourhood, the nature of public & private space and the experience of dislocation and social integration. Lisbon’s Mouraria district (lit. ‘Moors area’) lies on the steep hillside between the river and the Romanesque castle. Historically the area has been associated with the Moorish and Jewish communities but is now home to many immigrants drawn from across Europe and former Portuguese colonies in Africa, India and Brazil. Located at the edge of the formally planned Baixa district, the Mouraria has an informal urban topology arranged around squares and terraces linked by steep streets and stepped alleyways. This urban character is reminiscent of Moorish cities of the Moharabic and later Manueline architectural styles with culturally distinctive typologies of architecture and urban space.
In the context of the Migrant City theme, in Design Studio 5 we will be exploring the spatial and architectural theme of Work(ers) Space. The migrant workers become then the core actors in your projects, and you will all develop creative, innovative proposals that explore the different roles that architecture could play in such conditions.
M.Arch 