AA Rio de Janeiro Visiting School

AA Rio de Janeiro Visiting School 
26 march -  05 april 2013
Cidade do Samba, Rio de Janeiro

“Samba City”

Recently, the government of Rio de Janeiro implemented a policy of urban redevelopment that recognises the importance of providing space for the local creative economy of the Samba Schools within the Port of Rio de Janeiro, after having ignored their incorporation within the Porto Maravilha Waterfront Regeneration Project. Using this new incorporation strategy as our impetus, the Rio de Janeiro Visiting School will work directly with this initiative and aim to broaden its scope and accessibility in an attempt to foster a diverse public space for the Cidade de Samba (Samba City) infrastructure, a large warehouse complex built by the city for the top Samba Schools in the Port of Rio, which currently has no connection to the waterfront cruise-terminal tourist infrastructure, nor any type of amenities for the general public.

The projects will include the design of both permanent structures and temporary interactive installations transforming the existing closed production area of Samba City into an open space linked to proposed leisure itineraries along the waterfront. Structures will be designed with computational design methods and built with digital fabrication techniques with the assistance of local artisans combining new materials and processes with reappropriated Carnival paraphernalia. Students will build both models and partial one-to-one prototypes of their urban, architectural and interactive design proposals.

Instruction for the Visiting School workshop series will be led by AA Tutors and Assistants and local architects and specialists, the Escola de Carnaval Artistic Directors, and Carnival float-fabricators. Specifically, participants will learn computational design using rhino, grasshopper, processing, and arduino as well as the use of c.n.c. milling and routing, laser cutting and rapid-prototyping. No previous experience is necessary. The workshop is open to architecture and design students and professionals worldwide.

For more info: brazilvisitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk or +55 11 3062-3522