Reuse Modern landscape: a pedagogical programme on co-creation of inclusive and innovative public spaces

ABSTRACT

Landscape architecture has been one of the great contributions of the Modern Movement, both in spatial and aesthetic terms and in terms of its social commitment, which substantially improved the quality of urban life. Today, much of this heritage is affected by the passage of time or requires adaptation to profound contextual changes. In addition, the global health crisis provoked by COVID 19 exposed conflicts - overdensity, social inequality, lack of community spaces - that reposition public space as one of the priority issues on the urban agenda. In this context, schools of architecture find in the re-use of modern public space an opportunity to integrate in their didactic strategies essential themes of our time the social, cultural and environmental dimension. However, academic programmes are more focused on the artistic and technical education of the architect and have some resistance to integrate these themes. Instead, concepts and tools such as social participation, gender perspective, intersectional and intercultural approaches, collective memory, nature-based solutions, among others, allow transcending the production of objects to design human and healthy spaces with a true sense of inclusion, equity, diversity and innovation. In this sense, this paper proposes a common pedagogical programme that addresses the potential of integrating the open space produced according to Modern Movement principles into an inclusive public space that takes in consideration the contemporary urban challenges. Combining perspectives and knowledge from the north and south, this educational network is based on didactic and research projects developed in Europe (Coimbra, Portugal) and South America (Buenos Aires, Argentina and Campinas, Brazil). © Design: Social Commitment and Quality of Life, Proceedings.All rights reserved.