Recovering the (hi)stories of popular urbanism in revolutionary times: insights from conversations with TUPAU and Taller 5 architects on critical pedagogy, the politics of participation and urban design in Guayaquil, Ecuador

This paper describes the attempt to preserve the memory of a rich experience within an innovative university–grassroots alliance developed in Guayaquil (Ecuador) in the 1970s to support rural and urban migrants in their struggles for land and housing. The investigation is based on the oral testimony of architecture students and professors who were part of a Marxist-influenced workshop at the University of Guayaquil, and is rooted in questions raised by grassroots leaders about the unavailability of technical assistance aligned with their concerns. The paper shares the first steps in a systematic effort to understand the collaborative networks established by grassroots organizations and scholars and the spatial practices stemming from them in a unique moment of Marxist-inspired design activism. This effort intersects with contemporary international debates around the politics of participation, mediated through numerous articulations in Latin America of the user–designer relationship, and the components of popular urbanism.