UA.LABDESIGN is a design laboratory rooted in the territory, dedicated to researching and developing objects and ideas that revitalise the economy based on local wisdom. Its purpose is to speculate and rehearse desired and sustainable modes of existence, considering both the creation and the uses of these objects and ideas.

In conjunction with the University of Aveiro, the Municipality of Tondela, various associations, workshops, companies, agents and local players, in 2022 the ‘Núcleo do Caramulo’ will establish a network of craft workshops in the parishes of Castelões (Múceres), Campo de Besteiros (Ribeira), Molelos (Raposeiras) and Guardão (Caramulo), which it intends to expand.

The laboratory adopts a rooted and contextual approach, promoting dialogue, reflection and an immersive experience centred on revealing the wise practices of the place. With a regular and flexible residency programme, it offers practitioners the opportunity to engage directly, on an ongoing basis, with ancestral techniques that preserve cultural heritage. Among these practices are the Linen Cycle, whose preservation has the village of Múceres as one of its main strongholds, and the ancient process of producing Black Clay in Molelos, a legacy of great cultural importance in the region.