One of the most important theorists of the twentieth century, Brazilian educator Paulo Freire would have turned 100 on September 19, 2021, had he not passed away in 1997. A month later, Brazil celebrates Teachers' Day on October 15, even as public education faces massive federal budget cuts, continuing a long-standing process of systemic decline in the country's educational system. Against this backdrop, Freire has become one of the world's most widely read and cited theorists in the humanities. Despite this global recognition, his theory has yet to be fully integrated into the literature of architecture and urbanism. Here, we propose a brief reflection on how architectural practices can engage with Paulo Freire's theory.
Developed over two decades of practice in primary and secondary education, Paulo Freire's theory was first published in 1968. Freire worked as a Portuguese teacher and later as secretary of education, developing programs to tackle illiteracy in Pernambuco, which reached a staggering 72% in the 1950s (LARA, F. 2021). Based on an approach that connected literacy to the everyday words and objects of his students, his highly successful work famously enabled sugarcane workers to learn to read and write in just 45 days. During the Military Dictatorship, Paulo Freire was imprisoned for 72 days and subsequently exiled to Chile, where he lived for 16 years and wrote his most famous work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
