Research Structure

Research Projects

Affective Cartographies MAPPING URBAN VITALITY IN THE SCENARIO OF CONTEMPORARY AMBIANCES

The project, coordinated by professor Ethel Pinheiro, aims to increase the scope of methodologies for approaching public and collective spaces, through the analysis of Rio's urban environments. The main objective of this research is to outline a method that affirms that the greater or lesser affective bond with certain public spaces would be related to the quality of contemporary cities, especially to the great metropolis of Rio de Janeiro in the singular moment of World Pandemic by Covid- 19. For the development of this research, the performance of undergraduate students + eventual high schoo...

Applied Neuroscience in Architecture and Lighting

The main objective of this research, coordinated by Prof. Patrizia Di Trapano, is to apply Neuroscience knowledge to Architecture and Lighting design. The specific objectives include: establishing the foundations of multisensory architecture and analyzing how users' perception of environmental characteristics influences health and well-being; emphasizing the importance of architectural form and composition; conceptualizing lighting based on the principles of integrative lighting, which addresses visual comfort needs, biological aspects (light and the circadian cycle), and emotional factors. Ad...

Between art, architecture and landscape: theory and criticism of contemporary complexity

Coordinated by professor Fabíola Zonno. The research investigates two movements currently underway: the reinvention of architectural and artistic practices through experimental actions in an expanded field; and the reinvention of the landscape through aesthetic creations that are founded on it as site-specific works, works that build their meanings based on the relationship with the context in which they are inserted. "Complexity" is a key concept for a multidimensional approach to these contemporary phenomena, as it describes a fabric formed by multiple "lines" that are intertwined and const...

Brazilian architecture and architects - 19th and 20th centuries

The research aims to study the Brazilian architectural production of the 19th and 20th centuries and the architects related to it, with the objective of mapping and systematizing the information on the subject available in historiography, distinguishing its interpretative versions; document and analyze works from that period based on a previous selection in which they will be evaluated according to their meaning and impact in the Brazilian disciplinary field; study architects and their works to broaden the knowledge of those best known and bring to light names and achievements that, although r...

Building Open Space systems - methodological assessment and proposition procedures

Coordinated by professor Vera Tangari. This project is linked to the line of research Culture, Landscape and Built Environment, concentration area Quality, Environment and Landscape, of PROARQ-FAU / UFRJ, and continues the knowledge produced by the SEL-RJ group - Research Group on Space Systems Free in Rio de Janeiro, linked to the CNPq Group - Quality of Place and Landscape. Based on the recognition of the importance of the system of building open spaces in the analysis of landscape and urban occupation, we propose to extend our studies in order to offer methodological bases applica...

CAPES-PrInt - Subjective and cultural dimension of ambiances. ethnopographic tools in architecture and urbanism

The project linked to CAPES PRINT, coordinated by Professor Ethel Pinheiro Santana, has the central theme related to the development of strategies based on subjective and cultural dynamics of architecture and urbanism. The focus is on social development, research and extension and with a view to reducing social and ethical inequalities through proposals for collective urban reformulation of public spaces in metropolitan cities. This research is directly related to the internationalization proposal promoted by CAPES-PRINT.With the 'International Ambiances Network' (https://ambiances.net/ho...

Cemeteries: a place of pain, mourning and scenic memories

The project, coordinated by Professor Rubens de Andrade, is dedicated to the study of places dedicated to the rites of consecration and celebration of the memory of the dead in the design of the contemporary city landscape, from a historical, socio-spatial and landscape perspective. In situ and in visu landscapes of cemeteries, memorials and spaces dedicated to a range of events inscribed in the funerary ritualistic universe will be studied. The research will focus on the analysis of material and immaterial culture, produced from the relations of society with spaces, whose concrete and symboli...

Cities, history, affection, and memory — real life

Research developed by Prof. Daniella Martins Costa, aiming to continue and refocus the study conducted within the Laboratory of Architectural Narratives – LANA, at the PROARQ/UFRJ graduate program in architecture. The discussion on materiality, memory, space, and time, with the preservation of historical matter as a backdrop, forms the foundation of this work. Drawing both from the accounts of memoirists, such as the writer from Minas Gerais, Rachel Jardim, among others, and from field studies, this research weaves a connection between our reflections on memory and how it shapes our percepti...

Comfort, air quality and energy efficiency in buildings

Coordinated by professor Leopoldo Bastos. Its search and development of instruments to support architectural design that enables the inclusion and qualitative and quantitative assessment of the precepts of environmental comfort, energy efficiency, and sustainability in the architecture design process. Linked research coordinated by Researcher Helena Lacé with the partnership of Casa de Rui Barbosa: Artificial light in the composition of the interiors of Rio's residences from the 19th to the 20th century.To access the research at Sucupira click HERE...

Construction Processes in Informal Settlements

This research project focuses on two distinct objectives: (1) recognizing construction knowledge in informal settlements—how construction decisions are made, including material selection, construction techniques, planning, and project management; and (2) developing alternative construction technologies with economic and ecological advantages that can be applied in these areas. The goal of the first research front is to gain a detailed understanding of the construction process of houses in informal settlements, particularly in the Tijolinho housing complex, located in the Nova Holanda Favela,...

Development of Ethnotopographic Methodologies for Understanding the Affective Tonalities of Urban Space

This research on ambiances, to be conducted at LASC/UFRJ, aims to reveal the peculiarities of everyday urban ambiances that shape relationships of identity and otherness within the city. Through the capture of visual, tactile, and auditory environmental stimuli, the perception, understanding, and actions of individuals toward the Other (whether a person or a space) and themselves—since individuals transform and rediscover themselves through an internal search for what they wish to become—allow hidden elements and experiences to emerge, often unnoticed by inattentive observers. The general ...

Digital Methodologies and Sustainable Development: Applications in the Production of Sustainable and Smart Buildings and Cities

Professional practices in architecture and civil engineering have shown an increasing use of digital methodologies, with a particular emphasis on BIM (Building Information Modeling). In the Brazilian context, the BIMBR strategy stands out, along with the recent Public Contracts and Bidding Law No. 14.133, which has established BIM as the preferred method for all public procurements. At the same time, the country is addressing international requirements for reducing carbon emissions, aiming to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. These demands require mastery of new digita...

Digitization of the Sustainable Built Environment: Evaluation of Methodologies and Tools for Mitigating Climate Change and Promoting a Circular Economy in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation Sector

Climate change can be considered one of the greatest threats to human existence today, as it results from a significant increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly driven by human activities. The architecture, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) sector is responsible for generating a large amount of solid and liquid waste and emitting GHGs. Therefore, measures and strategies are needed to reduce these impacts, beginning with the quantification and diagnosis of the current situation, followed by an evaluation of how these strategies may contribute positively or negatively.&nb...

Energy, Space and Society: Environmental Comfort, distributed generation and Energy Efficiency in the Framework of Sustainability of Buildings

Coordinated by the professors Sylvia Rola and Virgínia Vasconcellos, this project understands that thinking about the built environment is to reveal the systemic aspect of their analysis, deriving from multidisciplinary intercession and converging concepts of environmental comfort, distributed generation, and energy efficiency. Environmental comfort is determined by the well-being of the user of the built environment and, regardless of the bioclimatic zone added to climate changes, its study becomes a generalized need, where the conditions of acclimatization of buildings increase energy deman...

Evaluation of Housing projects in Brazil

The research aims at the determination of quality indicators and the evaluation of innovative projects and programs of social interest in Brazil, combining concerns for quantity and environmental and architectural quality of social interest in Brazil, through the methodology of the Post-Occupation Assessment.To access the research at Sucupira click HERE...

Experimentation and Digitalization in Materials and Construction Processes

This research project proposes an interdisciplinary approach based on the validation and consolidation of different methodologies—both experimental and digital—for the production of the built environment. The study focuses on innovation in the field of efficient and low-environmental-impact construction materials, as well as the development of methods for characterization, evaluation, and manufacturing through digital technologies. It seeks to bridge experimental and computational approaches, leveraging scientific advancements to enable more environmentally and socially responsible constru...

From school's space to the educational territory: The place of architecture in the discussion between the school of integral education and the city of Rio de Janeiro

Coordinated by professor Gisele Azevedo. This project, linked to the Culture, Landscape, and Built Environment research line of the Graduate Program in Architecture - PROARQ-FAU / UFRJ, gives continuity and seeks to intertwine the knowledge produced by the research groups Environment-Education (GAE), Quality of Place and Landscape (ProLUGAR) and System of Open Spaces in Rio de Janeiro (SEL-RJ), related reflection on the quality of the place and the landscape of educational environments. Based on the joint application of the concepts, methods and research instruments used by the three gro...

Health Spaces Assessment

This research aims to develop the concept of rationality, environmental comfort, and energy efficiency in healthcare space solutions. The evaluation is limited to the functional aspect through the analysis of the program, space sizing and flexibility, and the modifications made during the period of use. The selected cases represent innovative projects.To access the research at Sucupira click HERE...

Historiography of architecture and architectural heritage

Coordinated by professor Gustavo Peixoto. Theoretical study of the writing of the history of architecture and the city: Critical reading and literary analysis of historiographic narratives (currents, trends, antagonisms); typology of historical narratives (linear narratives; non-linear narratives; fragmentary narratives); configurations of time representation in the narrative; analysis of the unfolding of the epistemology of history about the evolution of architectural aesthetics; the history of architecture as a study of discontinuities (ruptures, manifests, vanguards); the history of archite...

History of Architectural Criticism

The research, coordinated by Prof. Priscilla Peixoto, focuses on the writing of architectural and urban history. It aims to study its various actors, approaches, and sources. The research incorporates debates related to the theory of history, cultural history, discourse analysis, and the sociology of art. Among the most recent topics explored, special attention has been given to intellectual biographies, archives, and architectural criticism.To access the research at Sucupira click HERE...

Landscape architecture: morphological and environmental aspects

This project is linked to the Culture, Landscape, and Built Environment research lines and the PROARQ-FAU / UFRJ Revitalization and Restoration Project and seeks to consolidate the knowledge produced by the SEL-RJ group - Research Group on Open Space Systems in Rio de Janeiro, linked to the CNPq Group - Quality of Place and Landscape. It aims to research the interfaces between the disciplinary fields that influence the landscape configuration, with emphasis on its morphological and environmental structure. It is applied to the study of the processes that explain the morphology of the city...

Latin American Narratives: A Process of International Legitimization Through Exhibitions

This project, coordinated by Prof. Ana Paula Polizzo, aims to discuss the process of visibility and institutional legitimization of contemporary Latin American architecture within the hegemonic centers of global culture. It seeks to understand the different discourses—both institutional and curatorial—that have shaped the foreign perspective on this architectural production. The project encompasses a broad field of research possibilities regarding the discursive production of architects, intellectuals, critics, and historians working within major institutions, with a specific focus on arch...

Multicriteria approach to sustainable building project

This project aims to develop and improve instruments to aid the design of the built environment, based on the principles of sustainability. The description and organization of the problem are considered, in addition to the development and improvement of decision support instruments, based on methodologies of a multicriteria approach. These instruments can be simplified tools (matrices, intelligent rules) or computational tools (simulators). To this end, emphasis will be placed on methodologies: ELECTRE (decision aid based on intelligent rules, obtained by computer simulation, and underweightin...

Museum Architecture Study

Coordinated by professor Cêça Guimaraens. Architectural inventory of buildings of museums and cultural centers in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Survey and analysis of technical and building adequacy of buildings of historical value used for cultural purposes. Research on the development of architecture in buildings and museum spaces.To access the research at Sucupira click HERE...