Design as a resource for valuing territorial assets and local cultures: The case of Estrada Real, Brazil (original) (raw)

This project aims to present an initiative for cultural and territorial recovery through design, which is in project implementation with the Politecnico di Torino, Course of Study in Design, and Minas Gerais State University-UEMG, through the Centre for Studies, Theory, Culture and Design Research, School of Design, in a action of CMD – " Centro Minas Design " (Minas Design Center). The project involves students from two universities, using resources and tools for training at distance between the regions of Minas Gerais-Brazil and Piedmont. The main focus of research is to apply the design to enhance cultural assets and land, promoting the interaction between both institutions and students of Industrial Design at first level, which will relate to each other in design and culture. The territorial and cultural assets presented here are the Estrada Real (" Royal Road "), a road built by the Portuguese during the colonial rule, with the purpose of connecting the diamond and gold mines to the sea, with a course of 1600km (994 miles) across three regions (Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo). The project focuses on the link territory-sustainable development-design, specifically within the territory of Minas Gerais, which could provide an original contribution to the various actions already affecting the today's interest of Estrada Real. The Project is considered an experimental model for the development and enhancement of cultural and territorial, especially marketing-territorial confrontation, based primarily on the tourism and economic development potential, which is estimated by the Government of Minas Gerais to be 1.25 billion dollars and 2.5 million tourists/year. The study will also include training activities and a cultural project available not only for Brazilians but also for the Italian and Brazilian communities. Students and tutors/teachers will be involved in an action-oriented design to support the sustainability for territorial marketing in certain specified places of interest along the territory contained in the Estrada Real, within the State of Minas Gerais. The main expected results are: a) applying the perspective of design to improve the territory, through the development of research and analysis of elements of identity; b) the development of product designs and services based on the territory resources and sustainable profile development; c) the exchange of knowledge and experience, through the interaction between the institutions involved in the project.