Urban Oasis

Abstract

Urban Oasis is an investigation of the potential for degraded urban spaces to become catalysts of the changes needed for the future of humanity. The project proposes a transformation on the area of Company of Silos and Warehouses (CESA) located in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil, currently deactivated and unoccupied, into a park, a green laboratory for the city, that provides a place for practical and sustainable activities, that involves three aspects: social, environmental, and economic. Therefore, the Silo, which conserved grains in its industrial past, will become a space that conserves the environment and the future. The area has a strong connection with the city center of Passo Fundo, and it is easy to be accessed, and there are attractive views of the skyline of the urban center. To think about recomposing the longitudinal connection of the area, which is disconnected from the urban fabric of the city, it takes place through the reconstitution of an ecological network, which will be the necessary impulse to forward Passo Fundo and region for a sustainable development model, which intends to reintegrate this empty urban space socially and spatially, in the community and environmental conservation in urban areas. This article presents the reflections on the topics addressed for the conceptualization of this proposal regarding the sustainability; besides, the article presents how the connections between teaching/learning process and research are faced in an integrated and integral way in the design process, but mainly to achieve the sustainable goals in higher education practices.