Essay for the Aftermath. Building as Mediation: Dialogues and Material Exchanges

SUBcommunity

The "Rehearsal for After" workshop involves the critical and creative reuse of discarded materials from construction projects and scenographic assemblies, as well as elements brought by participants. This will be the first in-person event for SuB, a community of architects from different regions of Brazil who meet periodically to discuss the broader field of architecture, the arts, and professional practice. These meetings provide members with the opportunity for dialogue between diverse professionals outside the strictly academic environment. This is the result of an initiative by architects who, after completing their doctorates, recognized a gap in the dialogue between professionals in academia and those working in the practice of the profession and other fields of architecture.

The overall goal of the project is not only to experiment with constructions in extreme scenarios and reuse existing structures, but, above all, to create as a community. The Workshop will offer visitors to the São Paulo Biennial the opportunity to meet others, not only by sharing their opinions in lectures or discussion groups, but also by taking home what they collectively build. Similarly, in recent months, the SuB Community has been promoting conversations focused on current and pressing themes, with professionals from different fields within architecture, many of whom work in the broader field of art and architecture.

Thus, on this occasion, through the manipulation of discarded objects, we hope the workshop will lead participants through a sensory, reflective, constructive, and collaborative experience, activating imaginations about how to inhabit the worlds to come. By the end, we will have creatively rehearsed, in the face of precariousness and scarcity, how to transform the uses and meanings of available objects in order to recreate the notion of individual/community. Against the backdrop of the climate and social emergency, we will rehearse the limits and possibilities of designing through improvisation and discomfort, questioning the implications of a collective body in the constructions of the After. By experimenting as a group with minimal constructed forms, participants activate a sense of cooperation, a fundamental capacity for rebuilding the idea of community in times of crisis. The After that is rehearsed here is based on emergency and an invitation to collective imaginations and possible futures, built together.

Vacancies: 25 each day

Free

Registration:

Registrations must be made by form available here.

Selection will be made in order of registration.

Registration will be open until the start of the Workshop, on site, as long as there are spaces available.

It is possible to register for both days of the Workshop.

We thank everyone who participated and visited the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, from September 18 to October 19, 2025

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.