Resistance Architectures and the Teaching of Architecture and Urbanism: A Decolonial Perspective

Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of the teaching of Architecture and Urbanism in Brazil, framed within a decolonial reading of so-called “vernacular architectures.” Through a historical review of university education and its Eurocentric roots, it examines how the modern paradigm shaped fragmented pedagogical practices, hierarchizing knowledge and marginalizing popular, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant constructive traditions. It problematizes the colonial burden of the term “vernacular,” which often exoticizes and subalternizes these knowledges, restricting their technical and political legitimacy. As an alternative, the concept of “resistance architectures” is proposed, acknowledging such productions as living expressions of cultural, technological, and social agency. The study argues that decolonizing architectural education requires curricular revision that integrates subaltern epistemologies, fosters horizontal dialogue between universities and communities, and broadens the design repertoire beyond the Eurocentric canon. It concludes that rethinking terminology and references in teaching is both a political and pedagogical act, essential to building architectural practice committed to social and spatial justice.