Carmen Mendoza, the Assistant Director of the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture and Director of the Urban Planning Area and the Master's Degree in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture, Raquel Colacios, a lecturer in the Area of Cooperation, Enrique Rovira-Beleta, a lecturer of Accessibility in the Postgraduate Programme in Accessibility and Design for All, and Sandra Bestraten, the Co-director of the Master's Degree in International Cooperation: Sustainable Emergency Architecture, presented papers and took part in roundtable discussions at the international workshop “Architecture on the Edge: Re-constructing the Peripheries”. Organized by Dialoghi in Architettura, Associazione Culturale Il Varco and LAB Arquitectos, the workshop was held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday, 15-18 June 2015. The UIC Barcelona School of Architecture participated alongside other Barcelona architecture schools.
The workshop included papers, discussion groups, architecture and cooperation workshops and presentations of low-tech, ecodesign and bio-construction techniques. Some of the key concepts presented included applied technologies for reusing waste, natural materials and recycling, as well as the processes, methodologies and construction techniques they use. The main emphasis was on the importance of managing the process and analysing the social contexts. Real case studies included the “Wharf Jérémie” in Haiti and “Designing Resilient Schools” in the Philippines.
The aim of this international workshop was to highlight creativity and ingenuity through low-tech tools. Of note was the use of traditional building techniques and bio-construction as tools for meeting major challenges in cooperative architecture and urban planning projects in the wake of natural disasters. Other topics of interest included social architecture in areas with few resources and technology, and the challenges involved in the massive growth of cities and metropolitan areas.
During the workshop, the housing prototypes for India’s Chenchu families designed by students in the UIC Barcelona's School of Architecture “Cooperation 1” subject were on display at the Barcelona Roca Gallery, one of the venues hosting this international meeting.
