PROJECT@X - Up This River - The University in the Villages

The Aldeia do Xisto of Janeiro de Cima hosts  Project@X - Up this River, a residence next to the Zêzere River, in Janeiro de Cima, from 15 to 22 July, where design concepts will be worked on with a team of 25 students and eight teachers from the Design Degree of the DeCA-UA - Department of Communication and Art of the University of Aveiro. Projects will be worked on  with Aldeias do Xisto throughout the school year, covering the themes of water, nature and the dark sky. Students and teachers will be in residence in the village, and will develop the projects using carpentry, the Casa das Tecedeiras and local knowledge of the communities.
 

Biking is Good For You

Green travel around the Aldeias do Xisto is one of the projects concerned. Among other ideas worked on last school year, the XISTO e-bike saddlebags and the hoods will now be developed in the Textile Workshops at the Casa das Tecedeiras.

Water, Night, Nature

In PROJECT@X, a contemporary recreation of  a Janeiro de Cima Traditional Ferry  will be built.In the Graphic Workshops, other concepts proposed in class will also be worked on, where the students designed ways to enhance the quality of the experiences with Water, Night and Nature of the Aldeias do Xisto. 
 

PROGRAMME

15 July

• 12pm Welcome
• 1pm Lunch at the Restaurante Fiado
• 6pm PROJECT@X
  - The Challenge of the Villages
  Rui Simão, ADXTUR
  - Designing with nature
  João Nunes, designer
  - A Being-Centred Design
  Nuno Dias, University of Aveiro
• 8pm: Dinner at the Lavandeira Fluvial Park

16 July

• 9am Design Workshops I - Thinking
  1. Biking is Good For You
  Leather Workshops
  Coordinator José Leite
  2. The Hood
  Textile Workshops
  Coordinator Rita Salvado, Graça Serra and Sónia Latado
  3. Fauna and Flora of the Aldeias do Xisto
  Graphics workshops
  Coordinator Pedro Almeida and Nuno Dias
  4. Up This River
  Boat workshops
  Coordinator Paulo Bago d’Uva and Eduardo Noronha

17 July

• 9am:  Design Workshops II - Designing
• 10pm Workshop “Under the stars", with Apolónia Rodrigues, from Dark Sky ® and Miguel Claro, astrophotographer

18 July

• 9am: Design Workshops III - Developing
• 10pm: Presentation Dark Sky® Aldeias do Xisto - "Starlight Tourist Destination" Certification
  - Deep sky observation with Miguel Claro, astrophotographer

19 July

• 9am: Design Workshops IV - Prototyping

20 July

• 9am: Design Workshops V - Completion
• 10pm: XJazz
  Concert William Parker /Hamid Drake /Luís Vicente /John Dikeman
  Fajão, Pampilhosa da Serra

21 July

• 9am: Exhibition set-up
• 6pm: PROJECT@X Exhibition - Showing the projects and discussing the results at Casa do Lagar
• 8.30pm: Dinner at the Lavandeira Fluvial Park

22 July

• 11am: Maiden Voyage - Inaugural voyage of the New Ferry
• 1pm: Lunch at the Restaurante Fiado
• 4pm: Goodbye until next time!

The Aldeias do Xisto are a brand destination that, over the past few years, have managed to establish a unique enclave within the Central Region, and in the country as a whole, based on tourism, innovation and intuition. They have done so by always seeking out the most distinctive and authentic the landscape and their communities have to offer, attracting investment and opening the door to projects that start innovating from the very essence of these places. The relationship with nature, with the land, and with the people has been the guiding principle of this activity, which seeks to revitalise the area based on its cultural uniqueness.