When thinking about the final graduation project (TFG) that she would like to work on during the last year of the Architecture and Urbanism course at Unicamp, Júlia Hendler chose to dedicate herself to a way of improving the University itself, especially the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism (Fecfau): she developed a project for a new building for the faculty, which came first in the Joaquim Guedes Award, an award granted by the institution itself.
Having started higher education in 2019, Hendler is currently a master's student at the same university, having obtained her bachelor's degree last year. When she was still developing the TFG, under the guidance of Professor Ana Tagliari, the architect's main goal was to present to the evaluation committee something that was viable and representative of the desires of her fellow undergraduates and professors. “I was afraid of not understanding the demands of those who use the current Fecfau space,” she recalls. “But, in the end, designing a building from scratch made me consider current issues. I feel that I was able to identify an idea shared by professors, students and researchers in Architecture and Urban Planning to have their own place for studying and other teaching activities.”
Far from criticizing the current Fecfau building — which he thanks for the six years of his academic training — Hendler prefers to consider the project as an exercise in free reflection on everyday academic life, a suggestion for improving a public space like Unicamp. “Obviously, it would need to be a building to be built on the campus itself. The chosen location seemed ideal to me because of its proximity to the Fecfau professors’ department, the Saturnino Restaurant, and the connection between Albert Einstein Avenue and the street where the current building is located,” he explains.
Hendler also used the University’s own guidelines regarding the use of the campus. “I took into account the idea of adding density to what already exists rather than suggesting the construction of a building that was far away and, furthermore, that did not dialogue with the vocation of the block,” he explains. “In the end, the project would be appropriate from the University’s own point of view.”
For Tagliari, another virtue of the project defended by the student is that it allows socializing among potential visitors to the space. “It is a convergent study space, that is, it facilitates quality interaction between students, professors, staff and researchers,” she says. The Fecfau professor also praises the viability of the project. “The work uses simple structures, concrete blocks, and is completely viable and feasible.”
Tagliari's own research on circulation and the concept of architectural promenade (architectural tour, in free translation) serves as a starting point for Hendler, who also participated in a scientific initiation guided by the professor. “The building itself would be a connecting path between two important roads at Unicamp”, he concludes.
Constructed pedagogy
Hendler is inspired, among others, by Vilanova Artigas, one of the main Brazilian references in architecture and responsible for the projects of the School of Architecture and Urbanism of USP and the Morumbi Stadium, owned by São Paulo Futebol Clube. Also using the proposal for the building of the Melbourne School of Design, the architect applied the concept of constructed pedagogy to her project. “Through the use of exposed structures, it is possible for students to observe the School itself as a didactic object”, states the academic memorial for the TFG, highlighting how anyone in the building is allowed to notice the elements that compose it.
Just like the example of the Australian institution, where the plumbing, electrical and air conditioning systems are visible, the current master’s student’s project follows the same logic: a space in which it is possible to grasp the designer’s idea. “In general terms, it is the idea of not hiding the constructed elements. Everything that is used needs to be visible. For example, in my project there is the idea of not using ceilings in certain environments. The materials also need to be arranged in such a way that anyone visiting the space understands how the elements are connected. In other words: not covering anything up,” she concludes.
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