Reaction Lx – Graça District

The Graça district in Lisbon is the centre stage of several urban interventions resulting from an international workshop of architecture, design and art.

With the financial support of the Municipality of Lisbon and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, MEDS - Reaction Lx have established partnerships with various local entities to bring design students from around the world to Lisbon for a 15 day workshop aimed at reviving certain areas of the district of Graça.

Image: iPhil | Fotopedia

The International workshop MEDS Lisbon2013 – REACTION, the first to occur in Portugal, takes place August 3-18 and will serve as a catalyst for change with issues being identified and the students proposing real solutions that can be designed and carried out during the workshop. Students will create new programs, structures, urban furniture, urban art, or other interventions to activate and re-enliven these dead zones. The workshop intends to promote contact with the Lisbon community and welcoming students to use design to take a pro-active stance.

“We react to everything around us and, sometimes, we can’t control our reactions. It is this immediate ability to react when confronted that allows us to take a stand and, in accordance with our values, form an according opinion.”

Aiming at a reflection and action over small-scale city issues, the process consists of finding in Graça, areas which the community would like to see recovered, identifying the issues and proposing solutions that will be designed and carried out during the event.

MEDS is a non-profit, student organization established in 2010 with the purpose of promoting collaboration and experience integration among European students from various areas of Design.

For two weeks this organization gathers an assorted group of students of architecture, interior design, industrial design, graphic design, fashion, among others, through workshops that promote not only inter-curricular connections, but also the dialogue between students of different countries regarding a common theme.

The goal is to share knowledge about design, learn its process, allow experiences and promote creativity and communication skills of students from different areas of Design.

These workshops are held in a different country every year. Different people, cultures, thought forms and design areas, all gathered in the same place with the objective of building new ideas.

Find out more at http://www.reaction.com.pt