'During the seminar week, we went to Sao Paulo, the most inhabited city in the Americas. Defined by contrasts, both in terms of economic growth and inequality, the city was originally an indigenous territory. Its history is characterized by colonization, the conflicting forces of modernization, and the ongoing challenge of reconciling ecological and social justice agendas. In the words of philosopher Ailton Krenak, the city's future relies on becoming a forest.

During the seminar week, we had an immersive experience of the city's diversity: in the historic city center, in the Oscar Niemeyer' COPAN building, social housing projects and informal settlements. Additionally, we visited Lina Bo Bardi's socio-cultural facility Teatro Oficina, MASP, and SESC Pompeia, along with Paulo Mendes da Rocha's SESC 24 de Maio. Our itinerary included discussions in Casa de Vidro, the Paraisópolis complex, Minhocão, Paulista Aberta, and Vilanova Artigas - Architecture University FAU-USP.

In a unique hands-on experience students went to an abandoned mining site near the peripheral neighborhood of Brasilândia, witnessing the effects of de-industrialization, in a former mining area currently transforming into an urban park where our design studio is based during this semester.'

- Fernando Tulio Salva Rocha Franco and Diogo Figueiredo