Nayane Alves de Souza

My name is Nayane Alves de Souza also known as Nay, a Brazilian architect, ecological designer and researcher, working independently with a focus on bioclimatic design, bioconstruction and ecological design of landscape. I collaborate with traditional communities and collectives through participatory and context-based design practices.

My background is in architecture and urban planning, with experience in bridging traditional building techniques and contemporary sustainable design. My current research and practice explores the intersections between architecture, culture, traditional communities and collective health, particularly how built environments reflect and support ways of life, memory and well-being. I'm deeply interested in vernacular construction, traditional knowledge, participatory design methodologies, and how architecture can serve as a tool for healing, empowerment and reconnection between people and their territories.

I am currently co-developing a community center and memory space with a quilombola community in Brazil as well as working as a Research Assistant for the Ori Project (NIHR Global Health Research Group on Racism and Social Inequalities in Mental Health in Bahia, Brazil). The community center has been designed using participatory design methods such as affective and social cartography, collective drawing as well as model-making and on-site workshops. My work also involves field research, design facilitation, and construction processes that integrate traditional and local knowledge on earth-based techniques (like adobe and taipa) and contemporary technologies. Furthermore, I am also writing articles about the participatory design experience with the quilombola community, and the dialogue between architecture, participatory processes, and collective health.

My work resonates strongly with CHal's focus on culture, health, and illness, as I see architecture not only as spatial practice but as a cultural and relational process that shapes and is shaped by collective well-being. I am particularly drawn to how built spaces embody cultural resilience, emotional healing, and ecological balance.

Through CHaI, I hope to exchange knowledge and experiences with others working at the crossroads of design, anthropology, health and other fields from different perspectives and backgrounds. I am especially interested in collaborative research methods, storytelling as a form of inquiry, and ways of decolonizing architectural practices through community-grounded processes. 

Through my journey, I have discovered that sharing knowledge is not only an act of learning, but also of connection. I consider it to be one of the most powerful and joyful ways to build new understandings to create new worlds, together.

Email Address: nayalves.arq@gmail.com

Affiliation: Federal University of Bahia, Brazil