DATE: 1973-2006 _______________________________________________ VISIT: Outside _______________________________________________ MORE DETAILS:
The SAAL-BOUÇA Project had two phases. The first, in 1975, lead to the construction of two of the four foreseen buildings; the second phase took place towards the end of the nineties and completed the initial project.
The social and political upheaval period lived in the post-25th of April 1974 revolution, that over threw the 49 years of dictatorship in the country, was very turbulent and original. The SAAL operations placed the community’s residents and designers working together on the architectural solutions to adopt for the social housing to be built. According to Álvaro Siza, a lot was learnt through that interaction.
The project manages to interpret the dwellings that came from Porto’s “ilhas” (1), proposing houses that simultaneously responded to modern architectural models, with reduced areas. Originally designed as social houses, they are today occupied by a large number of young architects.
(1)Porto’s ilhas were the occupation of the interior of Porto’s Blocks. _______________________________________________
