Fragile Ecologies and Spatial Opportunities: Urban Design in Petare

2023

Faculty:

Ignacio Cardona, Instructor

Students:

ARCH 4000, Studio 07 (Urbanism)

Institution:

Wentworth Institute of Technology

Location:

Petare, Caracas, Venezuela

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This urban design studio investigated Petare through the intersection of Fragile Ecologies and Spatial Opportunities, challenging students to understand self-produced environments through their physical, social, cultural, and ecological systems Students moved from research and data translation to speculation, urban-system taxonomies, design frameworks, and spatial narratives.

The studio approached urban design as a collaborative process in which architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design operate across interconnected scales. Students developed proposals through multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives, testing alternatives and refining design criteria rather than pursuing predetermined solutions.

Through collaboratives strategies, students explored urban design as a means of strengthening connectivity, addressing spatial inequality, and identifying opportunities for transformation within Petare’s self-produced urban fabric.