O Projeto em Arquitetura para crianças: Estudo das práticas educativas nas entidades de arquitectura em Portugal

Abstract

This dissertation intends to make a general study of the state of education in architecture and built environment for children in the European context, to later address the Portuguese context and conclude with the experience of educational services at Casa da Arquitectura (Matosinhos, District of Porto), MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology -, and Garagem Sul (Lisbon). These three prominent entities are dedicated to the dissemination of architecture in Portugal, which in the last five years of the operation of educational services, have managed to reach children and young people through the various programs and contribute to an education in architecture in the country. Currently, education in architecture and built environment is not considered an educational need for children and young people in Portugal. However, in the European context, in the last twenty years, there has been a significant growth of educational practices in architecture, developed by architects, multidisciplinary groups, museums of architecture and professional bodies for architects. In cases such as Finland, the United States of America or France, the contests of these practices are already part of the national curriculum throughout the primary and secondary life stages. Following this trend, in the last decade, Portugal has seen the emergence of a centre of Portuguese architecture, a museum and a gallery of architecture with educational programs for children. Additionally, the professional body of architects for southern Portugal, OASRS, carried out the PuEmA Project (2017-2020) and held the first international seminar on education in architecture for children in the country. However, there is a lack of recognition of these practices and appreciation of the importance of education in architecture, especially from early childhood. This dissertation presents an exploratory study that researches the phenomenon of education in architecture for children developed in cultural architectural entities. The dissertation collates a bibliographic survey of guidelines and studies of educational programmes in the European context, presents interviews conducted with the coordinators of educational services of the proposed case studies and includes a selection of educational activities carried out in cultural entities of architecture in Portugal, between 2018 and 2021. After analyzing the information, some contributions are presented to highlight different aspects of the importance of education in architecture, observations of educational programmes and suggestions for further development of education in architecture for children in Portugal.