DESEJA.CA
Sustainable Development and Social Enterprise Program
"University extension, under the constitutional principle of the inseparability between teaching, research and extension, is an interdisciplinary educational, cultural, scientific and political process which promotes the transforming interaction between universities and other sectors of society" (PRoEx - UFMG)
Sustainable Development and Social Enterprise Program in Jardim Canadá was founded by a partnership between The Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG and the Art & Technology Center of Jardim Canadá – JA.CA. Jardim Canadá is located in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, that has a continuous increase in industrial growth and, on the other hand, a disadvantaged population that lacks skilled labor. The overall objective of the Program DESEJA.CA, and all extension projects linked to this, is to act with the local development of this neighborhood.
With that, as from urban and architectural interventions create a core of collective creation integrating design, architecture and craft always exploring the use of recycled material and the recognition of local popular knowledge. The program's actions include research groups, extension projects, cultural and social events, partnerships with local businesses, universities and other government institutions.
Ivete’s House — Architectural Intervention in a self-constructed house The project and the workshop was developed along with the discipline UNI 009 – Multidisciplinary Workshop: Social and Environmental Projects at the School of Architecture of UFMG, seeking to improve the quality of life of a family in the neighborhood Jardim Canada, through the collaborative design process, the use recycled materials and popular constructive solutions found on site.
Workshop MAR.CA — Creative Woodwork Design MAR.CA is a carpentry workshop facing the creative design of products like objects and furniture made with residual and recycled wood found in the region of Jardim Canada. It is expected the products to be sold in upscale markets, due to the value-added design, and simultaneously be part of interventions in public spaces and housing sites. Promoting a new language that enhances the product and is inserted in the local identity, creating products with strong characteristics of the place and the community involved.
Coordinators: Natacha Rena, Juliana Torres de Miranda, Francisca Caporal, Edgar Mazo (collaborator)
