Fão, Northern Portugal, Portugal

Sustainable Construction in Public Spaces

blended course
when 16 August 2022 - 26 August 2022
language English
duration 2 weeks
fee EUR 800

The long-awaited Summer School is back!

Join us for a transformative two-week workshop experience and you’ll learn:

Hands-on sustainable construction skills
Designing a project with a social purpose
Participatory design methods and application
Sustainability practices and philosophy integrated into the core of the program
The Critical Concrete Summer School will be held in Fão, to the north of Porto, Portugal.

The practical result of the project is the rejuvenation of public space by implementing sustainable outdoor furniture that is suited for the local context.

Public space interventions are all too often temporary; involving lots of materials that last for a season before being trashed. Critical Concrete is challenging this by proposing structures in public spaces that are strong, durable, sustainable, and transformative.

This summer school aims to establish the missing link in architectural education between the designer, materials, and the community.

This is your opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience by thinking through making, in the design/build tradition, while networking with other like-minded people and exchanging their skills and knowledge.

Theoretical input for the summer school comes in two forms – on-site instructions and remote online learning. To kick off the program a day of co-design with the community and participants will set the direction of interventions. This will be followed by discussions, debates and workshops on selected afternoons.

Additionally, each participant will receive a voucher for one interactive online course, hosted on our platform, Criti.co.

Course leader

Samuel Kalika: Director of Critical Concrete and Practical Mentor

Target group

The workshop is open to students, graduates and young professionals. Whilst participants might study or work in Architecture, Design, Landscape, Planning and Engineering we are open to all backgrounds. Students from abroad are welcome

Course aim

SUMMER SCHOOL AIMS

- Design a structures that meet the needs of local residents in this social neighbourhood – We aim to activate this space by providing meaningful, useful structures.
- Development of high-quality furniture and other interventions with a small budget and restricted time.
- Welcome a team of enthusiastic, inspiring individuals looking to get hands-on and delve into discussions of sustainability, conscious living, participatory design, and more.
- Provide project and site management experience and team-working including different types of leadership skills
- Offer the students a supportive network for their future project and their promotion, opening new professional perspectives.

Fee info

EUR 800: Full price - earlybird discount available