Last week at MARCH, a lecture was given by the architect of the British company Arup Ivo Barros, who will act as one of the teachers of the joint AA and MARCH summer course, whose cost has now decreased from 500 to 350 pounds thanks to the appearance of a sponsor.
Archi.ru:
Ivo, tell us about yourself, about your professional and teaching experience
Ivo Barros:
- I began my immersion in the profession by studying at the Portuguese School of Architecture, where from the very beginning the training course involved not only the scope of architectural design, but also a deep acquaintance with the basics of urbanism. After leaving school, I decided to continue my studies in Norway, where I entered the Bergen School of Architecture. It is a very artistic and experimental school, distinctly different from basic education in Portugal. I really liked this approach to teaching. I decided to finish my master's program there, and then stayed to teach graphic drawing.
During the period of the general global crisis, it became necessary to search for new opportunities. Together with a former teacher at the Bergen School, we went to Estonia to work on a project for the largest national park in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it was not possible to complete the complex and large-scale work due to a serious tsunami in the region. After that, I went to Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro, where I worked on projects for the Olympic Park for two years. Activities related to large-scale and complex architectural objects - each with its own specifics and important position in the city - gave me a clear understanding of the need to deepen my knowledge in the field of urbanism. That's why I went to London, where I entered AA. It so happened that the director of the department of urbanism in the British company Arup became my graduate supervisor. And after graduating from the London Architectural Association, I became one of the employees of this huge organization with 70 years of history. The company has several branches in different cities of the world, including Moscow, about 12 thousand employees on different continents. Arup specializes in urban development projects - mainly at the strategic planning level.
Have you already had experience of participating in workshops - as a teacher or as a participant? And if so, what are the most interesting projects that you managed to work on in this format?
Yes, there was such an experience. For example, together with Alexandra Chechetkina, who will also be a teacher at a summer school in Moscow, we took part in an interesting workshop in Recife, Brazil, which was actively supported by the city government. The workshop was focused on the development of a large urban area, for which it was necessary to find and propose a development scenario in just eleven days. There were about sixty participants in total, and all of them were people with good professional experience. During such a short but intensive course, we managed to get an interesting result, which was later summarized and presented in the form of a book. It is important that this format has attracted the attention of developers. Even Arup got interested in the site and seriously studied the knowledge presented in the book.
What do you mean by the declared theme "Architecture through urbanism"?
- The lecture is called "Architecture through Urbanism", and the title speaks for itself. Using examples from my own practice, I talk about planning cities from a spatial point of view, in terms of architecture and various typologies of buildings. The lecture includes my research from my A. A. studies and some of the work done at Arup, as well as the urban transformation project in Brazil.
What do you think about the topic of the joint AA and MARCH summer course? Are you familiar with the territory of Shabolovka?
- This is my first time in Moscow, so I'm not so familiar with the territory yet. But I see that the city is going through a period of great changes: new centers of activity are emerging, transport and public spaces are developing. The lifestyle is changing. The workshop theme explores the idea of transforming one neighborhood. The search for programs for the new use of Shabolovka space, the interaction of transport, housing, office and public life - all this can be a very interesting experience.
–How do you plan to apply your experience in Arup and study in AA during the summer course in Moscow?
- I hope that the workshop participants will benefit from my knowledge and experience in the development of large territories. The constituents of the city district necessary for its development, as a rule, are typical and were found in many of my projects - these are proximity to the water, to the city center, to the railway station, good transport accessibility, a sufficient amount of landscaping, the presence of several different residential typologies, etc. … This is what I constantly encounter in my practice. I understand how to use the situation correctly and include certain elements in the project so that the space works most efficiently. I think I can apply this experience from an educational point of view.
What result do you expect from the upcoming workshop? Why is it interesting for you?
- The academic and professional worlds are very different from each other, but at the same time they are interconnected. Being constantly in one, sometimes it is very useful to immerse yourself in another. This is a kind of return to your student years, where you can afford to look for new approaches and try to answer those additional questions that you never have time for in your professional life. In addition, for me this workshop is about working on a specific project that has practical application. This workshop allows in a new context to test some of the approaches that I managed to form for myself over the years of practice.
How do you assess the prospects for cooperation between AA and MARSH?
- This is the first experience of cooperation between two wonderful schools with very different approaches to education. And I think that this will be a fascinating experiment for both of them, which, perhaps, will be the beginning of further fruitful cooperation.
