// module12 sessions
Mobilisation: Art and Technology
urban art and AI in the quebrada
How do you use graffiti, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence to tell the story of your own territory?
Urban ArtVirtual RealityGenerative AI
a network · that makes.
A club for technology, art and invention inside the public school — and free of charge. Here young people do not sit through a lesson: they pick up the spray can, the Arduino, the 3D printer, VR and AI to solve a real problem in their own neighborhood. Seven hands-on months, from the first creative jam to the Festival stage.
+125young people in the network
7hands-on months
6cities in the network
50%places for diversity and inclusion
// what Hackerclubes is
it is tech, it is pop, it is art
Hackerclubes are creative spaces where urban art, technology and young people meet to hack social inequality with innovation and agency. Made from the periphery for the periphery — we want to build cities that are smarter, more diverse and more inclusive.
When young people create a new reality — with graffiti, sensors, 3D printing, AI and code — they are hacking social inequality. These are our clubs: alive, real, rooted in the territory.
// how it works
seven months, seven pillars
A 7-month journey of weekly workshops, from urban art to digital fabrication, ending in a hackathon and the Festival Hackerclubes.
- 01
Art in the streets
The history of artistic expression in the peripheries and in urban movements.
- 02
Culture & influence
Cultural influence, urban art and territorial identity.
- 03
Visual techniques
Spray, stencil and digital illustration techniques.
- 04
Digital fabrication
3D modelling and printing — from code to physical object.
- 05
Electronics & makers
Electronics, sensors, Arduino and LEDs: hardware in the service of art.
- 06
Creative hackathon
Real urban intervention: prototype, narrative, impact on the territory.
- 07
Festival Hackerclubes
The projects presented publicly to the community, families and partners.
// what young people create
six modules, real projects
Casa Hacker’s STEAM curriculum base: 6 modules in which each group develops a real project with impact on its own territory — from the problem to the invention.
// module10 sessions
Sustainable City
the smart city is not the future — it is now
How do you solve traffic chaos with electronics? An automated traffic light, a DC-motor cart, a barrier gate with a presence sensor.
ArduinoDC MotorSensors3D Model
// module8 sessions
Where There Is No Shade
heat islands in the periphery are climate injustice
How do you measure, denounce and fight extreme heat in your neighborhood with technology and artivism?
Temperature SensorsArduinoArt/PostersQR Code
// module9 sessions
The City and Water
zero waste starts in your own neighborhood
How do you build a leak detector and create an educational video with AI, in the style of "PIX", about privacy and water?
SensorsVideo AIArduinoDigital Security
// module11 sessions
City and Food
food security starts in the vegetable garden
How do you automate a vegetable garden with a soil moisture sensor, 3D modelling and a website to spread the word?
ArduinoMoisture Sensor3D PrintingWeb/HTMLVR
// module14 sessions
Hackathon: Mobilising the Territory
from prototype to public presentation
How do you create a working prototype that solves a real problem in your territory, and present it to the community?
ElectronicsProgramming3D PrintingVRPresentation
// straight out of the workshops
not a promise: already out in the world
The Vila’s Smart Traffic Light
A dangerous junction in the neighborhood became a prototype for an automated traffic light with sensors.
from the Sumaré group →Living Wall: graffiti + AR
A graffiti panel that gains layers in augmented reality, telling the story of the territory.
from the Sumaré group →Where There Is No Shade — Americana
Mapping the neighborhood’s heat islands with temperature sensors and artivism posters.
from the Americana group →The School’s Automatic Vegetable Garden
A community garden with a soil moisture sensor and a website built by the group itself.
from the Nova Odessa group →Festival Hackerclubes
Seven hands-on months lead into a hackathon and the Festival Hackerclubes: the kids take the stage and show the whole community what they have built — from graffiti to app, from sensor to urban intervention.
This is not a science fair, it is a launch. A project that takes the stage is a project that starts existing in the world. It is where the periphery states plainly that it is tech, it is pop, it is art — and that inventing your own future is serious business.
// the network in numbers
- 6 cities in the network
- 3 active units
- +125 young people in the network
- 100% free — it always has been
numbers measured and published — see the report Our Impact 2022-2025 →
// who makes it happen
Geraldo Barros
Programme Coordinator
Founder of Casa Hacker, he has worked with young people from the periphery and with maker education for more than 8 years.
Amanda Santos
STEAM Programmes Manager
A specialist in STEAM education and in active methodologies for young people in situations of vulnerability.
Aliene Villaça
STEAM Pedagogical Coordinator
Pedagogue and facilitator focused on maker curriculum, creative electronics and art education.
still have a question
What is Hackerclubes?
It is Casa Hacker’s network of clubs for technology, urban art and social innovation, made from the periphery with the periphery. In every unit, young people learn to build, test and launch projects that hack the inequalities of their own territory.
Who can take part?
Secondary school students (in partnership with schools). Places prioritise those with a household income of up to half the minimum wage per person (or up to 3 minimum wages in total), and 50% of places are reserved for diversity and inclusion, going to under-represented groups — Black people, women, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities.
How long does it last?
Each edition runs for 7 months with weekly workshops — and closes in style: a Hackathon and the Festival Hackerclubes, with the projects presented publicly to the whole community.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. It is free — it always has been. The programme is sustained by partnerships with schools, social investors and organisations, so that money is never a barrier.
How do I take part, or bring it to my city?
If you are a young person, use the "I want to take part" button on this page and we will point you to the unit closest to you. If you are a school, an organisation or a social investor and want to open a Hackerclube in your territory, get in touch at falae@casahacker.org.
// from the house’s open notebook
see all →publications about this initiative
Connecting STEAM Educators: Learning from Practice and from Each Other
At Casa Hacker, meetings between educators create spaces to share experiences, challenges, activities, and lessons learned in the classroom. Through these exchanges and reflection on their own practice, educators expand their repertoires and collectively build new possibilities for STEAM education work.
Expanding Horizons with Hackerclubes
The participation of Hackerclubes students in the II InterCOCEN Science Fair brought classroom learning closer to the research developed at Unicamp. The experience expanded the students' repertoire regarding the applications of technology and helped bring the university closer to their future possibilities.
Creativity and STEAM Education
At Hackerclubes, creativity is used as a pedagogical tool to bring students closer to technology and stimulate autonomy, experimentation, and expression. Classroom experience shows how STEAM education can create spaces for students to not only learn how to use technologies, but also develop their own ideas and solutions.