Brazil

The cooperation between the respective faculties of architecture and urbanism of UFRGS and TU Vienna began at the beginning of the century and resulted in a workshop organized by TU Vienna in 2005 and an excursion to Brazil, which focused on the transformation of urban spaces.

Ten years later and in the 15th year of the cooperation between UFRGS (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) and TU Vienna (Technische Universität Wien) we began another excursion to Brazil on the 13th of March 2016. A route similar to the one taken ten years ago was planned and a joint workshop in Porto Alegre, as in 2005, was ar- ranged. This time the focus was clearly defined as a subtopic of the Module Urbanistic: “Transformative Infrastructures”.

When demonstrations and riots started in 2014, which were caused by the raising of fares for public transport services in major cities, people made demands for improvements of public services. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated against bad public transport systems, for better health services, more social housing, improvement of schools and against the lack of security in public spaces. The high expenses, which were caused by the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and the Soccer World Championship in 2014, seemed wrong to those who faced security problems and experienced a dramatic lack of public services. To us it became more and more clear that urban infrastructures in Brazil urgently needed major improvements. Therefore, in 2013 we organized a workshop at UFRGS/PROPAR developing proposals for multi-modal-hubs for Porto Alegre. Together with students we published the results in a small brochure and handed it over to the local government.

Before the trip to Brazil in 2016 the students prepared themselves not only by organizing the trip themselves but also by editing a tour guide that was printed before they left Europe. For the planned workshop the analysis of the area of the main bus terminal, the “Rodoviaria” of Porto Alegre which is located close to the historic center and the harbor, was done on site. During the excursion, we studied the situation and history of urban infrastructures and urban developments in Brazils most important cities. Supported by many local Universities, NGOs and architects as well as the local Austrian Embassy, we experienced the most recent urban developments as well as the most iconic buildings of Brazilian Modernism.

While in Porto Alegre a group of colleagues, professors and students from UFRGS guided us through the city and helped to increase the understanding of the cities structure and problems. As the area of intervention was chosen in advance we could focus our research and on-site studies. The blocks between the city center (Praça Alfandega) and the Rodoviaria as well as its neighboring district (4th district) is nowadays, although an important hub for different bus lines, not a place to live. Dangerous, especially at night, with a lack of spatial qualities and not pedestrian friendly either, this part of the city has a great potential for development. Perfect transport infrastructure, proximity to the center, waterfront access, closeness to the public university and the business district as well as cultural places this run-down part of the city could become one of the most attractive quarters of the city. The proposals that were developed during the workshop and specified in the following semester are presented in this publication. Beside these urban design projects, we publish the contributions of our colleagues in Brazil as well as the seminar works of the Austrian students, which were developed during the module “Urbanistik” at the TU Wien and are related to Brazilian topics.

This past semester as well as this publication would not have been possible without the support of the students as well as a few former students of both universities, UFRGS and TU Wien, the engagement of Arq. Clarissa Brendler who helped a lot in organizing and reducing costs, the translation of Elisabeth Summereder and the support of the TU Wien in regards to travel expenses and publishing.
We are grateful to the staff of PROPAR, the post graduate program of UFRGS, the Austrian Embassy and our colleagues at the TU Wien that contributed in this module during this semester.