Recovering the (hi)stories of popular urbanism in revolutionary times

Insights from conversations with Tupau and Taller 5 architects on critical pedagogy, the politics of participation and urban design in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Bibliographic Data

ID12242582
AuthorsNelson Carofilis (0009-0009-2457-8644, The Dialogue, corresponding author), Viviana D’auria (0000-0001-5124-7685), Pablo Ortiz-T (0000-0001-5063-4560)
Year2025
Volume37
Issue2
Pages382-400
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Urbanization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-2478 • E-ISSN: 1746-0301
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/09562478251366080
OpenAlexW4414822217
LanguageEN
References cited15

This paper describes the attempt to preserve the memory of a rich experience within an innovative university–grassroots alliance developed in Guayaquil (Ecuador) in the 1970s to support rural and urban migrants in their struggles for land and housing. The investigation is based on the oral testimony of architecture students and professors who were part of a Marxist-influenced workshop at the University of Guayaquil, and is rooted in questions raised by grassroots leaders about the unavailability of technical assistance aligned with their concerns. The paper shares the first steps in a systematic effort to understand the collaborative networks established by grassroots organizations and scholars and the spatial practices stemming from them in a unique moment of Marxist-inspired design activism. This effort intersects with contemporary international debates around the politics of participation, mediated through numerous articulations in Latin America of the user–designer relationship, and the components of popular urbanism

Alliance · Grassroots · Latin Americans · New Urbanism · Politics · Urban design · Urban politics · Urbanism · Architecture, Art, Education · Latin American Urban Studies · Architecture

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