BODILY EXPERIENCE AND RESISTANCE: Interactions Between the Body and Urban Space and Their Transformations in the Landscape of Public Open Spaces in Housing Complexes

• Grant number: 25/04325-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: February 01, 2026
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning
• Principal Investigator: Hélio Hirao
• Grantee: João Pedro Pereira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes, Comunicação e Design (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Public open spaces in Brazilian housing complexes play a crucial role in the daily lives of communities, fostering local culture, identity, and a sense of belonging. However, due to the current mode of urban space production, these spaces are often neglected in design processes, resulting in generic and residual environments that fail to accommodate the social dynamics and subjectivities of residents. Despite these limitations, urban practices emerge from the inhabitants' insurgency, revealing the complexity and appropriation processes of these territories. This master's research investigates the relationship between the body and urban space, analyzing how everyday experiences are inscribed in the body and transform the landscape. The study focuses on the Ana Jacinta and João Domingos Netto housing complexes, both located in the medium-sized city of Presidente Prudente, São Paulo. The empirical approach combines two methodologies: drifting (dérive), based on the studies and practices of Francesco Careri and the Situationist International, and cartography, drawing from Barros and Kastrup, following the foundations developed by Deleuze and Guattari. These methodologies enable the recognition of territoriality processes and their transformations in the landscape, using the relationship between body and space to experience the urban environment and identify its singularities. This research is of critical importance, as it contributes to the development of new methodologies and urban planning strategies for these spaces, essential for making everyday life visible and integrated into urban design. Furthermore, it values the daily urban practices of the population, which are often ignored or undervalued in urban planning processes. (AU)