Project Location: Segovia, Spain
Project type:  Academic Alternative City Practice at  IE University, Spain
Supervisor: Romina Canna
Project Status: Submitted Fall 2014
Team: Lara Waked and Greta Magani

In the context of Spanish architectural practice, it is unusual for an architectural main branch of the Spanish Architectural Collegio to locate itself in a small city such as Segovia. In the conditions following the 2008-2015 economic crisis in Spain, the architectural practice was struck heavily with major unemployment and apprenticeship became more scarce for students attempting an early familiarization with the professional practice before graduation. While the collegio maintains its control of registering and supervising architects following several issues and crises challenging the architectural activity within Spain, the collegio is struggling to maintain its legitimacy in practice. Within this challenge, a collaborative opportunity presents itself.

The Junior License program is created and designed to return the legitimacy of the collegio via the integration of the upcoming generation of architects. The proposal primarily focuses on the Segovian branch and its neighbouring architectural schools such as IE University’s Architectural degree. The JLP is guided by three main aspects, the collegios professional practice network and its workshops, as a rite of passage to the professional field, and for the students as a means of rethought integration through formal collaboration, projects and mutual interests and the collaborations service towards the benefit to the city to create a suitable professional community not only between the students and the collegio, but at a larger scale with its impact towards the city.

In the field of alternative urbanism, comes the opportunity to utilize nontangible methods and tools to answer complex city challenges. These solutions may lie in the casual discourse about issues within the informal city, suggesting the rethought and development of policy, character and identity.

Project location: Asunción, Paraguay
Project type: Professional Collaboration 2014
Office: Ecosistema Urbano
Project Link: http://ecosistemaurbano.com/portfolio/master-plan-for-the-revitalization-of-the-historic-downtown-of-asuncion/

The development of a suitable holistic approach requires strong research and understanding of the complexity of informal economies and their relationship with formal interventions of integration within the city at multiple scales. The winning proposal is based on an international scale research studying different methods of such integration. Through a combination of exemplary projects and a study of the local conditions and its opportunities, a wide scale collaboration system is designed synergizing both, local bottom up initiatives and top down policies.

At multiple scales proposals and interventions are defined. Firstly by the definition of multiple corridors (The Ecological, Dynamic and Civic). Secondly nodes of community gathering and city development labs. Thirdly global exemplary and local initiatives to inspire possibilities of economic and civic improvement through top down (institutional and governmental) and bottom up (communal and informal) initiatives.