The University and the Workshop

The School of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidade Lusofóna in Lisbon has been hosting the  International Summer Workshops  in  Urban Design  since 2018. Primarily organized for planning, architecture, and landscape architecture students, as well as for young professionals, this two-week workshop is being successfully offered since 2018. Applicants fro other disciplines who are interested in planning and urban design are welcome to apply. Lisbon, with its historic and picturesque architecture, intricate urban morphology, lively public spaces, and walkable streets, is the perfect city to study urban design.

The Universidade Lusófona was founded in 1987 in Lisbon where its main campus  is located.  It  is the largest Portuguese private university and the main institution of Grupo Lusófona who owns other universities and colleges in Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Currently the Lisbon campus holds  ten schools  offering undergraduate and graduate degrees (MSc and PhD) to more than 9,000 students. The degrees follow the European Union  and  Bologna Educational Treaty norms and directives.

​Divided into three parts, the Workshops  in  Urban Design  focus on walking as a fundamental way to experience the city, a method to understand its urban design, and a goal for livable and sustainable places. In the first part, participants are guided through quick observational studies in areas representing different historical periods and planning/design paradigms, such as the Alfama, Baixa, Rossio, Bairro Alto, Alvalade, and Parque das Nações. On Saturday there is an optional day-long visit to Sintra. Participants walk, observe, annotate, sketch, and analyze the urban qualities they experience. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of a specific neighborhood or project site, including meeting with local planners and community members. In the workshop’s third and final part, based on the previous two parts, participants develop an urban design development vision for intervention. Participants work in small interdisciplinary, international teams and are encouraged to came up with imaginative short and long terms proposals that may inspire local public, private, and  community efforts.

The workshop is taught in English and offers a total of 80 contact-hours (field + studio) plus the optional day-long visit to Sintra. Participants receive a university certificate and 10 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits.

Principal Faculty

Vicente del Rio
Diogo Mateus
Mario Moutinho
Workshop Coordinator and
Visiting Professor
Universidade Lusófona 

​Architect-urbanist; Dipl. City and Regional Planning; M.A. in Urban Design; PhD in Architecture and Urbanism. Professor, City and Regional Planning Department, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. Formerly professor, vice-director and graduate coordinator at the school of architecture and urbanism, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Visiting professor, Universidade Lusofona. Author of the books Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Brasilia, Projeto do Lugar and Introdução Desenho Urbano no Processo de Planejamento, among other publications.
See www.vicentedelrio.net
Workshop Coordinator and Professor
Universidade Lusófona 

​Urbanist with a Masters and a PhD in Urbanism. Director and professor of the graduate program in Urbanism, and researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Education and Development (CeiED), Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon. His research covers the following areas: Territorial and Urban Planning & Management, Urban Quality, Territorial Policies, Urban Rehabilitation Open Public Space, and Walkability.
See: www.researchgate.net/profile/Diogo_Mateus2
University Rector and Professor Universidade Lusófona 

​Architect and urbanist, with master degrees in cartography and ethnology, and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology (Université de Paris VII). Founder of the undergraduate and graduate programs in urbanism, the Center of Studies in Socio-museology (1993) and the Centre of Studies in Socio-urbanism. Founding member of the International Movement for a New Museology. Extensive professional experience in architecture and urbanism. Author of several books including Desenho Urbano: Elementos para uma Análise Morfologica and Países ricos e países pobres, globalização ou capitalismo? He is currently the Rector of Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon.