The Future of Education

The following paper acknowledges the multidisciplinary connections enable by media to communicate the symbolic and historical value of the Portuguese tradition of tiles in facades, namely in the city of Porto. It is developed within the context of Anti-Amnesia (POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-029022), a design research project that seeks to sustain disappearing traditional industries and practices in northern and central Portugal [1]. The educational resources that are built have a lot to do with writing and reflecting on the pedagogical activities themselves, in the form of scientific contributions to the higher education community involved in art and design. The tiles (Azulejos, in Portuguese) have been a defining feature of Portuguese architecture for centuries, but the practice has steeply declined in scale and authenticity with the advent of more mechanized means. Acknowledging this heritage, the research is framed with the study and recognition of the historical and semantic capital of this Portuguese graphic tradition of tiles, in their historical and socio-cultural contexts, namely in the digital archive proposed by the project “Os Azulejos do Porto” [the tiles of Porto], updating these values and concepts as motives for the creativity in design, requalification and revaluation of communication for contemporary design.
Design’s role towards the continuity of historically significant but antiquated traditional practices involves gaining a greater visibility of emerging strategies that are being employed in response to real-world issues concerning heritage management. This guideline bridges to the educational insight: digital media and digital archives, properly organized and made available for public domain, allow the necessary conditions to investigate the selected case-study. It is described the developed project with graphic design BA students, implemented in three stages, from research, to creative development and conclusion. This evolution invites the implementation of changes in the teaching context itself, acting accordingly to the perception of the contexts, the interpretation of the dynamics and experiences of the students, and acting accordingly to this same analysis. This opportunity combined a creative research project with cultural heritage of an urban territory, and allowed interactions between students, artists, activists and local culture, leading to networking and know-how transfer. Its main objective was accomplished, to develop idiographic knowledge, in a pedagogical and professional reality that is dynamic, multiple and comprehensive.

Keywords: multidisciplinary connections, media, heritage, art.