Principal Investigators: Silvina Lopez Barrera and Diego Thompson
Led by Prof. Silvina Lopez Barrera and Dr. Diego Thompson, this project brought together an international, interdisciplinary team to explore how informal housing communities in Lima, Peru, experience place attachment and resilience in the face of climate change. The research combined architectural and sociological perspectives to develop a community-based methodological instrument for assessing vulnerability and belonging in marginalized urban contexts.
The team conducted a hybrid webinar in May 2022, training over 100 undergraduate students from Mississippi State University and the University of Lima to assist with fieldwork and data analysis. During a month-long research visit to Peru, the MSU team conducted interviews, site visits, and community engagement activities in informal settlements, while also meeting with university administrators to explore future academic collaborations.
With support from a CAAD Catalyst Grant, the team hired undergraduate research assistants to assist with data analysis. They presented a conference paper to the 2023 World Congress of Architects and published the conference proceedings. This pilot project successfully established a cross-cultural research partnership, generated valuable preliminary data, and laid the foundation for long-term international collaboration focused on housing, identity, and climate resilience in the Americas.
Project Impact
ArchDaily. (2023, June 8). Design for resilient communities at the UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 [Photograph by S. Lopez Barrera, D. Thompson, C. Dreifuss Serrano, & C. Schreier Barreto; Images 25, 27, & 28]. https://www.archdaily.com/1002100/design-for-resilient-communities-at-the-uia-world-congress-of-architects-2023/648051d143e45a6ad53afd62-design-for-resilient-communities-at-the-uia-world-congress-of-architects-2023-image
“Community Resilience under Contexts of Informal Housing and Climate Change in the Americas” Silvina Lopez Barrera, D. Thompson, C. Dreifuss, and C. Schreier. UIA World Congress of Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark, Jul. 2-6, 2023.
Lopez Barrera, S., Thompson, D., Dreifuss Serrano, C., Schreier Barreto, C. (2023). Community Resilience Under Contexts of Informal Housing and Climate Change in the Americas. In: Rubbo, A., Du, J., Thomsen, M.R., Tamke, M. (eds) Design for Resilient Communities. UIA 2023. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36640-6_45
WEBINAR “Place Attachment, Resilience and Climate Change in the Popular City.” For students at Mississippi State University and the University of Lima, Peru. Student attendance: 62 online + 40 in-person in Lima. May 24, 2022. https://www.caad.msstate.edu/events/2022/05/webinar-informal-city-place-attachment-resiliency-and-climate-change