Teaching and Outreach: Housing Improvements in the Pequis Neighborhood

Abstract

This article presents an university extension experience developed in the Architecture and Urbanism program at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), in the course Curricular Extension Activities – Integrated Project Workshop V (ACE – API V). The activity was carried out with fifth-semester students and consisted of preparing diagnoses and housing improvements in eleven homes in the Pequis neighborhood, a housing complex in Level 1 of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (PMCMV) program, located in the city of Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. The objective of the activity was to propose design alternatives based on contact with the families' ways of living, identifying structural weaknesses and highlighting the importance of ATHIS as technical support for renovations and adaptations. The method involved technical visits, on-site records, qualitative observations, and the development of architectural proposals. The paper dialogues with the theme Housing and ways of living from the edition Multilateral Dialogues: Praxis, Interlocutions, and Confrontations, valuing the exchange between academic knowledge and the social practices of families, highlighting the encounter between the real demands of the territory and professional training. The results indicate that the activity favored the production of proposals accessible to residents, broadened students' critical perception of the social role of the architect, and strengthened a closer relationship with the community, generating impacts on the relationship between families and their homes.