Wednesday November 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Join us for the launch of this illuminating study of one of the most remarkable housing initiatives in European history. With the author, Sara Almodovar Pereira, in conversation with architect and theorist Dr Dubravka Sekulić.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The fall of the dictatorship in 1974 saw the start of Portugal’s revolutionary period and with it one of the most remarkable housing initiatives in European history. As an immediate response to the vast portion of the population living in slums and shanties, the SAAL (Mobile Local Support Service) was established to equip impoverished people to build the new homes they needed. Initiated by architect Nuno Portas, the SAAL connected citizens with planners, architects, engineers, and builders to collaborate on the design and construction of new developments, to be built on requisitioned sites as close as possible to the inhabitants’ former homes. The resulting estates were intimately informed by their inhabitants’ needs and hopes. Through their uniquely participatory process they developed a celebrated new architectural language.
In this book, Sara Almodovar Pereira collects the experiences and reflections of those who participated in the SAAL, reconstructing this extraordinary chapter in architectural and social history through the voices of those who were there, at the protests and meetings, on the building sites and barracks. The experiences recounted are revelatory, demonstrating truly participatory architecture and offering new understandings of housing as right and provision, far from prevailing paradigms and their perpetuated logic of ‘crisis’. This immersive oral history traces the unfolding of a historical moment at ground level and reminds us of ways of working and building that could transform the future.
Sara and Dubravka will talk for around 45 minutes followed by a Q&A.
As always, tickets are priced on a sliding scale. If you are unable to pay for a ticket please do not hesitate to contact us at shop@housmans.com, and a free ticket will be made available.
If you choose ‘book + entry’ your copies of the book will be available to collect on the evening. If you would like to collect it earlier, or arrange for delivery, please contact us (postage is £2.95). Telephone 020 7837 4473 or email shop@housmans.com.
Doors Open at 6:45pm, Event Starts 7:00.