Goals:
«Design Lab Brazil — Learning from the Informal» proposed an interdisciplinary and intercultural field trip to Brazil in 2015 with the objective of investigating alternative creative practices in an urban (in)formal environment. The cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were chosen to be the laboratory to explore this type of design and raise questions about its origin—what characterizes it; what is its social and aesthetic value? And how this approach can contribute to the design practice and thinking today.
Methods:
Based on Lucius Burckhardt’s concept of strollology and invisible design, the approach of the field trip was to challenge one’s perception of the urban environment by immersing in an intensive expedition through unspectacular places in the centre and peripheries of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In a continuous exchange of different ways of thinking and acting, within a group of students, locals and experts (architects, designers and photographers), we were able to expand and deepen our understanding of the informal culture and practices.
Conclusion:
In 2014 40% of the Brazilian economy was based on informal work . Aware of the social and economic problems of informality, the project pursued the idea that informal practices and strategies carry a potential for simple innovations and bottom-up transformations. Away from a corporate and standardised context, they can act as driving force for social empowerment, economic autonomy and cultural diversity. As the sociologist Manuel Castells puts, informality is not a product but a process that is constantly in a making, shifting and redefining relationship with the formal system, to a large extend in an essential and dependent way.
In this sense, «Design Lab Brazil — Learning from the Informal» defined the concept of informal design, referring to informal economy and informal architecture, as a design practice that isn’t only a creative process originated from existential needs, precarious conditions or limited economic resources, but also expresses material and technical knowledge, genuine achievements, and great diversity. An alternative design practice that designers can learn from.
The field trip is part of an ongoing research project.
Funding granted by Dossier Committee: CHF 8750