Architecture and Participation

Transcription

1 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 1 The SAAL Process Architecture and Participation Demonstration against the decree prohibiting occupations, São Pedro da Cova, 1976 Photo: courtesy Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril - Alexandre Alves Costa Collection 31 Oct Feb 2015

2 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 2 (...) In the traditional housing system, everything is done when the tenants arrive. With the SAAL programme, the tenant arrives before any decision is made (...). Nuno Portas 2

3 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 3 What role for architecture in a revolution? Born out of the Portuguese revolution of 25 April 1974, SAAL the Serviço Ambulatório de Apoio Local [Local Ambulatory Support Service] was one of the most compelling processes in twentiethcentury architecture. It was a pioneering experiment in Europe, setting up technical teams (known as brigades) led by architects who, in collaboration with the local communities, tried to address the urgent housing needs of the underprivileged communities across the country. From surveying living conditions to supporting resident committees, from the architectural project to monitoring cases of land expropriation, the brigades were reinventing the practice of architecture, designing projects with the residents and not for them. Active until October 1976, SAAL was to produce in its twenty-six months of existence, some 170 projects that involved more than 40,000 families from North to South including districts such as Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Lisbon, Santarém, Setúbal and Porto. Forty years after the beginning of SAAL, its imprint continues to define the spatial and social fabric of cities and neighbourhoods and to prompt reflection on collective processes that can generate social transformation. At a time when ideas of participation are running through the worlds of art and architecture, it may well prove worthwhile to take another look at some aspects of Portuguese history immediately after the April 1974 Revolution. In this period, coinciding with major changes in the power structures both in political-formal and interpersonal terms, the mutual influence between vindication processes, representative structures and autonomous organisations accelerated at a staggering rate. In this giddy state, largely driven by tensions within a society that was trying, with countless contradictions and at different rhythms, not to miss the contemporary bus, basic questions of social organisation, such as the political and economic models, and the emergence of the fundamental rights of the post-war European social state were in play. However, the main issue was that of social mobility: how is it that, in 1970, a society with an illiteracy rate of 3

4 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 4 over 25% could create processes and mechanisms to set up the possibility of mobility? How is it that a society could collectively manage the housing shortage, estimated at around 500,000 homes in 1970, with large sectors of the (socially and culturally unclassified) population living in degrading conditions? These central issues in promoting development, today shelved as the legacy of the memory of the social and economic changes in Portugal, were crucial in the context of the ending of the authoritarian regime ousted in 1974, which had never developed a social policy let alone a housing one. This is the context in which SAAL would set up a significant number of operations throughout the country. Although none of them were finished, they were sufficiently stimulating to lead to the rethinking of the relationship between the needy and the right to the city, stirring debates in a participatory tension that would affect the thinking about urban planning, the architects understanding of their social and political role, and demonstrate the possibility of another type of housing policy than merely being subsumed by the market or the industrialised state policies and relocation. The radical nature of these issues can be gauged by the fact that, in many cases, and forty years later, the question of land ownership has still not been resolved. 4

5 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 5 For the architects coordinating the brigades, the desire for political participation combined with almost total commitment, both in terms of the clear scarcity of a market in the revolutionary period, as well as the continuity regarding some of the concerns that (especially in Lisbon and Porto) had intensified during discussions on the practices of architecture, disciplinary autonomy and the social responsibility of the architect. These tangled circumstances would be the field making SAAL a unique, complex and fruitful experience, impossible to synthesise. There was no one SAAL, there were as many as there were cases for each intervention, each brigade and each field experience: cases for each person. As noted in the Livro Branco do SAAL [White Paper on SAAL] published in 1976 in response to the accounts presented to the inspection decided by dispatch in November of the same year, the process was played out city by city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, island by island, house by house, room by room. In memories, person by person. 5

6 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 6 P O R T O SAAL s operations in Porto were distinguished by the fact that they were largely located in the historic centre the so-called ilhas ( islands ), long established and highly unsanitary working class neighbourhoods. Claiming the right to the city for deprived communities, SAAL set up an intense debate over the historic city. Despite being abruptly interrupted, SAAL s 33 initiated operations resulted in the building of 374 dwellings: only a small number, however, when compared to the generous ambitions of the process. The scale model presented clearly shows the centrality of the intervention areas and how they opened up discussion on the city s future, giving architects the opportunity of designing the historic city and calling the 1950s Plan of Improvements into question. The SAAL period also saw the people intensely mobilised, motivated by the hope of getting better living conditions while maintaining their community ties. The participatory process involved a strong connection between the brigades and resident associations. The tensions generated by the popular movement led to violent reactions, however, even going so far as attempted bombings of SAAL/North and its directors. 6

7 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 7 Leal Neighbourhood The Leal Neighbourhood pioneered community association, with the first resident activity going back to the early 1970s. In 1974, immediately after the revolution, the residents strongly opposed the building of a car park that would involve their relocation and resettlement. Sérgio Fernandez s project, therefore, which originated in prerevolutionary resident organisation, was conceived through the dynamics of the resident process, having a project-oriented clarity that came from an economic sense of design in adapting to the needs and politically imperative character of the intervention. In addition to the design drawings and the scale model built now, another from the period is presented that allows us to understand the synthetic character and the effectiveness of the work. Department: SAAL/North Project: Sérgio Fernandez Project team: António Corte Real, Carlos Delfim, Emídio Fonseca, José Manuel Soares, Vítor Sinde Residents Association title: Bairro do Leal Residents Association founding date: 30 April dwellings in the 1 st phase and 33 dwellings in the 2 nd phase Operation date: October 1974 Construction date: April

8 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 8 São Victor Neighbourhood The group of 12 houses built for the São Victor Neighbourhood is one of SAAL s most important operations, despite being only a small part of the project carried out by the brigade led by Álvaro Siza Vieira. Maintaining the urban fabric of the ilhas and community ties, the São Victor project combined the understanding of its participatory nature to the precision of the project. An important case study, it led to Siza Vieira being invited to design projects in Berlin and The Hague in the following decade. In many aspects, São Victor represents architectural practice thought out ethically and politically, with great stress on understanding the link between the voice of the people being listened to and the permanence of architectural design. Designed with a major concern for containment, the size of each home can easily be seen from the full-scale plan, to which the staircase was added. The photographs of São Victor as it is today, by André Cepeda, show the architecture s capacity for resistance, even though little of the original project was built and part of the surroundings for which the project was conceived has actually been destroyed. Department: SAAL/North Project: Álvaro Siza Vieira Project team: Adalberto Dias, Domingos Tavares, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Francisco Guedes, Graça Nieto, Manuel Borges, Manuela Sambade, Paula Cabral Residents Association title: S. Victor Residents Association founding date: 14 April dwellings in the 1 st phase and 20 dwellings in the 2 nd phase Operation date: November 1974 Construction date: October

9 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 9 Antas Neighbourhood The project for the Antas Neighbourhood is an example of architecture and thinking about a site within an urban area which was later distorted. The way in which the architectural design deals with the difficulties of the terrain, maintaining the characteristics of an estate and incorporating the vernacular which is visible in how it blended in contrasts with the scale of later operations, which can be clearly seen from the scale model, as well as from the part of the project that was actually built. In presenting the Antas Neighbourhood as it stands today, after 40 years, the photographic work of André Cepeda demonstrates the architecture s resistance and highlights the type of thinking about housing that SAAL proposed. Department: SAAL/North Project: Pedro Ramalho Project team: Aires Pereira, Augusto Costa, Francisco M. Lima, José Lencastre, Lídia Costa, Pedro B. Araújo, Teresa Fonseca, Vítor Bastos Residents Association title: Antas Residents Association founding date: 1 September dwellings in the 1 st phase and 50 dwellings in the 2 nd phase Operation date: October 1974 Construction date: October

10 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 10 SETÚBAL CASAL DAS FIGUEIRAS LISBOA CURRALEIRA - EMBRECHADOS BELA FLOR BACALHAU - MONTE COXO FONSECAS - CALÇADA ALGARVE MEIA PRAIA 10

11 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 11 PORTO S. VICTOR MIRAGAIA LEAL ANTAS PORTO ÂNGELA FERREIRA 11

12 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 12 Miragaia Neighbourhood The decision to present Fernando Távora s Miragaia project, despite the fact it was not built, is due to its seminal and programmatic character. Continuing the architect s research on the Barredo Neighbourhood a very poor area in the Porto s historic centre which he worked on as an architect and teacher at the city s School of Fine Arts, the Miragaia project shows great knowledge of Porto, both territorially and socially, as well as presenting a view of life in an urban space. The city council s policy on Porto s historic centre subsequently embarked on a path that did not include Fernando Távora s project for Miragaia. The project was, in the seriousness of its design and the knowledge that it displayed, a major attempt to recover and rationalise Miragaia s vacant riverside zone. It is remarkable how the highly developed proposal, its surgical nature and Fernando Távora s notes reveal a thought process about SAAL, its structure, and the relationship with the residents and an intervention model in the city. Department: SAAL/North Project: Fernando Távora, Bernardo Ferrão, Jorge Barros Project team: Antónia Nolo, Bernardo Ferrão, Gil Carneiro, Joaquim Jordão, Jorge Barros, Manuel Campos, Pedro Paredes Residents Association title: Miragaia Residents Association founding date: 30 March dwellings not built Operation date: June

13 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 13 L I S B O N Quinta do Bacalhau Monte-Coxo Neighbourhood Quinta das Fonsecas Quinta da Calçada Neighbourhood In Lisbon, SAAL less tied to the procedures of an organisational structure and more focused on individual situations (spread far and wide across the city which had been steadily growing since the 1960s) banked on interventions whose urban aspect was motivated by its scale. In most cases, the type of housing block with circulation galleries was increasingly used to control unstructured areas. The shanty town populations demanded this type of housing, which was synonymous with social mobility and refusal of self-building, taken as a continuation of this exploration. In the Lisbon municipality, in 1976, the 19 interventions underway involved about 13,500 families. This typology, used in the Quinta das Fonsecas Quinta da Calçada Neighbourhood (615 homes planned) by Raúl Hestnes Ferreira, as well as those in the Quinta do Bacalhau Monte Coxo (384 homes planned) by Manuel Vicente, was linked to ambitious urban undertakings. The intention was to bring the city to the outlying shanty town areas. None of these projects was carried out in full, and are now fragmented and besieged by the traffic system without having produced any of the essential community and socialising facilities. José Pedro Cortes photographs present the Quinta das Fonsecas Neighbourhood in its current condition, confined by the surrounding road network, whilst maintaining the rationality of its design in their incomplete courtyards. 13

14 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 14 Quinta do Bacalhau Monte Coxo Neighbourhood Department: SAAL/Lisbon and Central South Project: Manuel Vicente Project team: Afonso José Baptista, Agostinho Xavier de Andrade, António Albano Leitão, António Leitão, Cristina Catela Martins Pereira, Eduardo Serrano de Sousa, Gentil Noras, José Manuel Dinis Cabral Caldeira, Manuel Augusto Lopes de Sousa, Nuno Matos Silva, Rita Cabral Residents Association title: Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Portugal Novo Constituição da Associação de Moradores Residents Association founding date: 6 September dwellings Operation date: September 1974 Construction date: January 1977 Quinta das Fonsecas Quinta da Calçada Neighbourhood Department: SAAL/Lisbon and Central South Project: Raúl Hestnes Ferreira Project team: Adelaide Cordovil, Afonso Conde Blanco, Afonso Pissarra, Aminadade Pio, António Assis Freitas, Aurélio Bravo, Carlos Abreu Vasconcelos, Eugénio Castro Caldas, Fernando Silva Pereira, Jaime Pereira, Jesus Noivo, João Luís Carrilho da Graça, Jorge Farelo Pinto, Jorge Gouveia, José de Pina Cabral Trindade, José Ferreira Crespo, Manuel Morim, Manuel Samora, Maria Augusta Henriques, Maria do Rosário Leal, Maria dos Anjos Alves, Mário Martins, Quirino Marques da Silva, Hugo Hugon, Salustiano Santos, Sebastião Formosinho Sanches, Vicente Bravo Ferreira Residents Association titles: Cooperativa de Habitação Económica 25 de Abril and Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Unidade do Povo Residents Association founding date: 26 June 1975 and 14 July dwellings in the 1 st phase and 301 dwellings in the 2 nd phase Operation date: October 1974 Construction date: September

15 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 15 Curraleira Embrechados Neighbourhood The Curraleira or Horizonte Neighbourhood, as it was renamed by its residents would have been a major operation. José António Paradela and Luís Gravata Filipe s project envisaged the building of 938 homes, resettling 864 families (Curraleira Embrechados as a whole) the majority of whom had lived in the intervention area for two generations. Despite being located near busy major city axes, it remained a secluded spot with almost no social mobility. Although only a small part of the project was actually completed (with many land ownership issues still unresolved, as in many such situations), the operation was a catalyst for community involvement that even today presents collective protests (against the installation of a high voltage station in the vicinity, for example). The project is presented through panels produced by the brigade for an exhibition in A full-scale model allows us to understand easily the developing character of single-family dwellings, materialising an important principle at the time: the reconciliation of high density with low height of buildings. Department: SAAL/Lisbon and Central South Project: José António Paradela, Luís Gravata Filipe Project team: Álvaro Eduardo Ebling de Campos Costa, António José Tomás de Almada Guerra, Carlos Alberto Vale, Francisco Mendonça, João Dionísio, Maria Cecília Cruz Vaz, Maria de Deus Damião, Matilde Henriques, Paulo Menezes Braula Reis, Vítor Correia Residents Association titles: Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Bairro Horizonte and Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Lisboa Nova Residents Association founding date: 14 November dwellings in the 1 st phase and 170 dwellings in the 2 nd phase Operation date: November 1976 Construction date: September 1976 and December

16 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 16 Quinta da Bela Flor Neighbourhood Built on a very difficult site, Artur Rosa s project for the Quinta da Bela Flor Neighbourhood grew out of a shanty town dating back to the 19 th century, with their being reports of families living in hillside caves that flank the start of the A5 motorway today. A complex process based on voluntary work, its ending was a huge blow to the local brigade. In 1976 and 1977, Artur Rosa, who was also an artist, produced three works that reflected on SAAL, its failure and the subsequent sense of persecution felt by many brigade leaders. The decision not to present the project but rather the artistic interventions SAAL I, SAAL II and SAAL III was made to reveal the performative nature of the process, its poetic intensity and the way it kept its protagonists in mind. Department: SAAL/Lisbon and Central South Project: Artur Rosa Project team: Etelvina José, Hélio Oliveira, José Luís Teles Rebolo, José Miguel Fonseca, Luís Pereira, Manuel Coutinho Raposo, Maria Fernanda Carvalho, Maria Isabel Rodrigues Lobo, Nuno Blanco Bártolo, Nuno Martins Residents Association title: Cooperativa de Habitação Económica Bela Flor Residents Association founding date: 13 February dwellings Operation date: September 1974 Construction date: December

17 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 17 S E T Ú B A L Casal das Figueiras Neighbourhood Setúbal experienced the political vibrations of the revolutionary year with great intensity. The Casal das Figueiras Neighbourhood was designed for a fishing community living in a very complicated area to build on due to an extremely steep slope. The challenge facing architect Gonçalo Byrne was to maintain the structure of single-family housing, according to the typologies the populations requested (such as the outhouse or courtyard), while making a large urban gesture. The solution found was based on two types of housing (the square and rectangular plans). It overcame the problem of the 36% slope in an architecturally striking manner, but nevertheless managed to fulfil the major requirement of keeping costs down that was inherent in any SAAL operation. The set of slides presented were produced by Byrne and tell the story of the project from beginning to end. Daniel Malhão s photographs of the neighbourhood today show the project s remarkable resistance to appropriations and transformations, maintaining the architectural quality of the place. Department: SAAL/Lisbon and Central South Project: Gonçalo de Sousa Byrne Project team: Ana Ferreira Rebocho, Berta Sá Caetano Residents Association title: Casal das Figueiras Residents Association founding date: 30 October dwellings Operation date: July 1975 Construction date: October

18 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 18 A L G A R V E Meia-Praia Apeadeiro Neighbourhood In the Algarve, the SAAL process was met with great enthusiasm and involvement. The option to set up a flying squad that would supply the needs of the other teams and deal with social and political tensions made the Algarve SAAL more fluid and organic. It was here that the participatory process was felt more intensely, that self-building issues found greater permeability (but also greater discussion) and that architectural design adapted to the urgency and dynamics of participation and politics. One of the leading figures in the process was José Veloso, the architect responsible for a great number of projects in Barlavento, while João Moitinho dealt with many of the Sotavento projects and Manuel Dias with those in the Centre. SAAL s Meia-Praia operation became iconic due to António da Cunha Telles 1976 film, Continuar a Viver ou Os Índios da Meia-Praia. It was for this documentary that the Portuguese songwriter, José Afonso wrote his Os Índios da Meia-Praia: Eight thousand hours counted Working well And then came the first Authenticated document Then came a cheque in the mail And some stonemason friends Who came here to live Brought neither table nor bed With six feet of earth Building a hut There were women and children Each one with his brick We had an orchestra here Whoever says otherwise is a fool 18

19 Roteiro PT 2 29/10/14 20:04 Page 19 José Pedro Cortes photographs clearly show how the neighbourhood has fulfilled its purpose. Department: SAAL/Algarve Project: José Veloso Project team: José Manuel Costa, José Rijo, Leonel Fadigas, Luís Abreu, Pedro Vieira Residents Association title: 25 de Abril Residents Association founding date: 17 February dwellings Operation date: February 1975 Construction date: January

20 Roteiro PT 3 30/10/14 17:49 Page 20 The exhibition The Saal Process: Architecture and Participation is curated by Delfim Sardo and organized by the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Canada. Scientific consultant: José António Bandeirinha Exhibition architecture: Barbas Lopes Arquitectos Exhibition graphic design: Atelier Pedro Falcão Design and implementation of the scale models: Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra Collaboration: Porto District Archive FAUP / Centro de Documentação, Porto Instituto Fundação Marques da Silva, Porto The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive programme aimed at the general public that includes exhibition guided tours and conversations, cinema and performance arts cycles and Open Conversations in the SAAL/North Neighbourhoods of Bouça, Leal, Antas and São Victor. For more information, see the brochure available at the Museum reception desk, as well as the exhibition page at the Serralves Museum website