Brico-Urban is a critical response to the rigid approaches to urban design found in Lisbon. Specifically, this project is concerned with how urban design in Lisbon has adversely effected the African immigrant community. Their adversity is both; caused by, and reflected in, Lisbon’s urban fabric. This is seen most poignantly in the presence of favelas in the capital of a first world nation. These favelas, along with other urban features and architectural mechanisms, help to maintain reflections of colonial social arrangements in modern Lisbon.

 

Despite their illegality and the societal stigma they retain, the favelas in Lisbon demonstrate some unique characteristics that directly and indirectly benefit the inhabitants. By enacting these characteristics – e.g. collaboration, adjustability, bricolage – at a broader urban scale, this project formulates an alternative approach to urban design.