SUMMER SCHOOL
18 — 25 July 2025
Braga, Portugal
The Shopyard Summer School is an intensive week-long programme of pedagogical experimentation, organised in partnership by Space Transcribers and INSTITUTO. Running over the course of one week, the programme focuses on exploring, debating and reimagining the future of the first-generation shopping centres in Braga, Portugal.
Located in central Braga are more than 25 shopping centres built during the 1980s and 1990s. Although situated in prime and privileged areas of the city, many of these buildings are currently underused. The growth of large-scale shopping centres and retail parks on the urban periphery, shifts in consumer behaviour, and the economic crisis of recent decades have all contributed to the prolonged vacancy of these buildings.
This phenomenon is not unique to Braga — it reflects broader changes in urban and commercial dynamics across various European cities. Nevertheless, we believe that these shopping centres represent valuable opportunities to foster new cultural and spatial dynamics within Braga and beyond.
During the Summer School programme, a group of 30 participants — selected through an open call — will be divided into three working groups, each guided by one of the invited mentors:
oitoo, BUREAU and OUEST architecture.
Each group will focus on developing spatial and social proposals for one of the three selected case studies. Practical interventions may include architectural projects, temporary art installations, participatory workshops, and experimental activities that engage with the commercial and social dynamics of these spaces.
In addition to the work carried out by the participants, the programme will feature a series of public events, including talks, guided visits, film screenings, an assembly, and other activities.
PROGRAMME
Shopyard Summer School — Public Programme
All public events of the Shopyard Summer School will take place at Shopyard Headquarters, Shop 33, Santa Cruz Shopping Centre in Braga, Portugal.
• Shopyard Assembly #2
19 July (Saturday), 4:00–6:00 p.m.
A presentation and interdisciplinary conversation with anthropologist Ana Catarino, designer Frederico Duarte, and architectural historian Janina Gosseye, focusing on the social and urban role of first-generation shopping centres, reflecting on their histories, current challenges, and possible futures.
• Talk with the Mentors: BUREAU
21 July (Monday), 6:00–8:00 p.m.
The Portuguese-Swiss practice BUREAU presents its critical approach to the intersections of architecture, design, and culture, questioning how we inhabit and transform urban space.
• Talk with the Mentors: OUEST architecture
22 July (Tuesday), 6:00–8:00 p.m.The Belgian studio OUEST architecture shares its approach grounded in material reuse, circular economy, and co-creation, exploring new possibilities for existing buildings.
• Talk with the Mentors: Oitoo
23 July (Wednesday), 6:00–8:00 p.m.
The Portuguese studio Oitoo presents examples of its work in urban regeneration, ground-floor reactivation, and strategies for bringing life back to underused spaces.
• Final Presentations – Shopyard Summer School
25 July (Friday), 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Participants of the Shopyard Summer School will present their proposals for the Santa Cruz, Santa Bárbara, and Galécia shopping centres during a guided tour that concludes the week of collaborative thinking and work.
CASE STUDIES
Santa Cruz Shopping Centre
Located in the centre of Braga, just behind Theatro Circo — one of the city’s most iconic cultural venues — this shopping centre, built in the 1980s, features six floors of retail space and three upper levels dedicated to offices, comprising a total of 136 units and a commercial area of
9 900 m². It currently houses the headquarters of the Shopyard project, marked by a distinctive yellow curtain designed by the Porto-based architecture studio oitoo.
Galécia Shopping Centre
This shopping centre, built in the mid-1980s, contains 69 units spread across a commercial area of 3 548 m². It includes a small auditorium, which is currently closed. On the lower floor (-01), there are rehearsal spaces used by bands and small independent cultural projects. In the past, this level housed a bingo hall, which was later converted into a bar.
Santa Bárbara Shopping Centre
Located in the heart of Braga’s medieval city centre, this shopping centre functions as a passage and shortcut between several streets in the historic core. Designed by architect Agostinho Ricca in the 1980s, the complex includes both office spaces and residential apartments.
Much of the underground commercial area is currently closed to the public. The centre comprises around 100 units across two floors, with a total commercial area of 1 150 m².
MENTORS
https://bureau.ac
https://oitoo.pt
https://ouest.be
GUESTS
GUESTS
©Cristina Bernardo, 2023
Frederico Duarte is a design critic and curator. He teaches at FBAUL, is the communications coordinator for Bauhaus of the Seas Sails at IST, and is a co-founder of Fazer magazine. At the Shopyard Summer School, he will present Learning from Babilónia, a project developed with students that offers a critical and ethnographic reading of one of Greater Lisbon’s most unique shopping centres.
Janina Gosseye is a professor at TU Delft, where she investigates how architecture and urbanism reflect social and political ideologies. Using methods such as oral history and visual narratives, she brings forward perspectives often silenced in architectural discourse. At the Shopyard Summer School, she will present her work on shopping centres and their role in shaping public space in post-war Europe.
Ana Catarino is an anthropologist whose research focuses on the production of urban space, the bodies that inhabit it, and the memories and practices that shape it. She worked on Trabalhar com os 99% and conceived and produced the video installation Quando a Luz Não Alumia o Caminho for the exhibition Inquietação – Architecture and Energy in Portugal at Galeria Municipal da Avenida da Índia, Lisbon. She also carries out research and production work for Hangar and Mónica Miranda as part of the project Jardins Invisíveis.
ORGANISATION
www.spacetranscribers.com
www.oinstituto.pt
The open call of the of the Shopyard Summer School is now closed, but participants can
read the full document below.
read the full document below.
Make the most of your stay in Braga by exploring other projects from Braga 25 Portuguese Capital of Culture. During the Shopyard Summer School, we’ll be highlighting a selection of events and festivals you won’t want to miss:
Shape of Neighbourhood – June to November 2025
Shape of Neighbourhood (Forma da Vizinhança) is a festival of architecture and art taking place from June to November 2025, across various locations throughout the city of Braga. Curated by Space Transcribers, the festival brings together invited architects including Manuel Bouzas, Parto Atelier, Patrícia da Silva, Nuno Melo Sousa, ATA Atelier, LIMIT Architecture Studio, RAM, and Atelier Local. Together, they have created new spaces for gathering and exchange through temporary architectural installations, which will serve as platforms for cultural and community-based activities.
Find out more at: formadavizinhanca.pt
Extremo – 26 July
Extremo is a unique festival, conceived as a one-day journey that resembles a short pilgrimage. The programme runs from sunrise to sunset, weaving together soundscapes, performances, installations, and a series of exploratory and electronic music concerts. Held on the border between the municipalities of Braga and Guimarães, the festival activates the religious buildings of Monte da Falperra and its surrounding cultural and natural landscape, blurring the boundaries between municipalities, artistic genres, and between art and nature itself.
Find out more at: extremo.pt
You can explore more of the Braga 25’s programme at: www.braga25.pt
Shopping Santa Cruz, loja 33
Largo Carlos Amarante 117, Braga - Portugal
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