TU Delft & USP collaborate on Collective Housing and the City

TU Delft researcher Dr. Nelson Mota and USP researcher Prof. Leandro Medrano were awarded a SPRINT grant to develop research and education activities to explore the design of collective housing and its potential to create inclusive urban communities, resist housing commodification, and assert adequate housing as a social right. 

The initial phase of the project involved the organization of two parallel courses: the TU Delft design studio "Global Housing: Into the Void" and the FAU USP course "Arquitetura, espaço e sociedade: teoria e crítica (Architecture, space and society: theory and criticism )" at FAU USP. For these courses, the two researchers were joined by a group of instructors that included Dr. Vanessa Grossman and Ir. Harald Mooij from TU Delft, and Prof. Dr. Luiz Recamán, Dr. Marcos L. Rosa and Dr. Mariana Wilderom from FAU USP.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Dutch group could not visit São Paulo. However, the instructors formed mixed groups of students from both institutions to facilitate remote collaboration. The positive outcomes of this partnership were showcased in an exhibition titled "Graphic Anatomy of Barra Funda: A trans-Atlantic collaborative contextual analysis in times of global pandemic," held at TUD-BK in the Fall Semester of 2021/22. 
 

In Spring 2022, a new run of the collaborative project was organized by Prof. Medrano and Dr. Mota, working in collaboration with Dr. Vanessa Grossman from TU Delft, and the same team of instructors from FAU USP. The courses included were the TU Delft design studio "Global Housing: On the Margin" and the FAU USP course "Arquitetura, espaço e sociedade: teoria e crítica (Architecture, space and society: theory and criticism)". As travel restrictions were lifted, TU Delft students and teaching staff were able to travel to São Paulo to engage in fieldwork, lectures, and collaborative work. The gathered data supported the development of design projects by TUD-BK students and critical essays by FAU USP students. The workshop in São Paulo concluded with an exhibition and review of the work produced. 

In September 2022, the TU Delft graduation studio “Global Housing São Paulo: Repair and Consolidate” was organised as a follow up to these two previous collaborations. The course was coordinated by Dr. Nelson Mota, and included Prof. Dick van Gameren and Ir. Harald Mooij as members of the TU Delft teaching team. The preparation of the course activities and syllabus was developed in collaboration with a team of researchers from FAU USP, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Leandro Medrano, which also included Prof. Dr. Luiz Recamán, Dr. Marcos L. Rosa and Dr. Mariana Wilderom. Under the auspices of this academic program, TUD-BK students analyzed ten relevant case studies September/October 2022, utilizing data organized by the research team. Students developed their analytical material, resulting in a series of posters for each case study. The São Paulo case studies were visited during the field trip to São Paulo in October 2022. The site visits allowed for the collection of further information, interviews, sketches, and photo surveys. The workshop in São Paulo concluded with an exhibition and critical review of the work produced by the students, documenting patterns of everyday life in the visited case studies. 

In November 2022, a team from FAUSP visited the Netherlands, conducting site visits, project reviews, and a seminar at TUD-BK. From November 2022 to March 2023, the research team developed a proposal for the publication of the project's results. The publication aims to disseminate the findings and explore the relation between housing policies, design decision-making, and inclusive urban communities. 

The COHOCITY project has fostered a successful collaboration between TUD-BK and FAU USP, resulting in valuable research, analysis, and student projects. By examining the impact of urbanization on housing design and advocating for inclusive urban communities, the project has contributed to the advancement of housing practices in Brazil, the Netherlands, and beyond.