Research strands
Urban Planning and Right to the City
This research strand discusses contemporary urban dynamics fostering a critical knowledge about the production of urban space. Considering recent urban debates and the emergence of new tools and theoretical approaches it focuses on the distribution of costs and benefits of urban development among social groups, on urban-environment sustainability, on urban design as part of the planning process and on accessibility of the built environment within the Right to the City perspective. Specific themes range from informal urbanization, urban regulations, and the analysis of programs, policies and projects that transform contemporary city.
Theory and history of architecture, urbanism and urbanization
This research strand investigates the production of urban space and architecture, seen from broader studies of theories and the history of architecture, urbanism and urbanization, looking at their social – economic, political, cultural-ideological and environmental aspects. It analyzes the built environment, considering landscape, urban form and architecture, as part of historical and contemporary urbanization processes. It welcomes research on architecture and urban planning historiography, focusing on their agents and their epistemological basis. Geographical aspects of historical and contemporary urban processes. Analysis and production of architectural, and landscape architecture inventories; Preservation policies and practices and intervention in cultural heritage built environment; and Modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism theory and criticism.
Information Modeling and Design :
New digitally based technologies have raised contemporary issues of production of images and meaning in Applied Social Sciences as well. In this context, the concept of Design and Information Modelling (MDI) is part of this process, aiming to explore objects that vary in scale, from the artifact to the city. It is intended to the production of knowledge about the means and modes of representation from analogical hand drawing to digital simulation, drawing on theories, concepts, techniques, methods and processes that integrate the sensitive perception to computational systems for the production of innovation and generation of relevant knowledge in landscape, architecture, urbanism and design. To this end, MDI addresses and deepens questions such as perception and representation in the design process, information modelling as systems that structure and support the analysis, decision, conception, development and materialization of the project and planning.
