Brazilian Urbanism – Past, Present, and Future
This 3-credit course, led by faculty member Richard Kos, AICP from San Jose State University’s Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning, will introduce students to Brazilian urbanism topics between January 4-14, 2019.
Students will start their exploration with five days in the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage city of Ouro Preto, settled by Portuguese colonists in the 1600s who exploited the region’s vast gold deposits. Students will see colonial-era architecture, meet with federal university architects and urban planners, and take part in a service learning project in the São Cristovão community. Students will work side by side with community leaders who aspire to make their neighborhood cleaner, more sustainable and attractive to tourists.
Next stop: Rio de Janeiro! We will meet with the city’s planners to learn about urban issues facing this megacity. Topics will include planning for the 2016 Olympic games, adaptive reuse of Olympics venues, infrastructure improvements to support mass tourism, and an exploration of Rio’s favelas, botanical gardens, and the city’s huge tropical forest park. We will also visit the Christ the Redeemer statue for mesmerizing views of Rio and we’ll have one “down-time” day between course activities to relax on the beaches of Copacabana.
For details, and to apply (August 30 deadline), please visit http://www.sjsu.edu/gei/flp/programs/winter/brazil-kos/index.html