Political upheaval leaves cracks in the foundations of a society. But alongside the loss of stability, sometimes radical change (at the end of a fascist regime, for example) also creates a space for radical experimentation – which can require dropping social or professional boundaries and just “doing it together”.
One such unique project in 1970s Portugal was called SAAL. It may have been short-lived, but it marked a fundamental shift in the evolution of architecture as social practice.
»We are the hand of the people.«
- Álvaro Siza
The SAAL housing programme in Portugal was officially launched just after the 25 April Revolution in 1974, which overthrew the totalitarian Estado Novo regime and brought half a century of fascist dictatorship to an end. An acronym for Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local, or “Local Ambulatory Support Service”, SAAL was conceived and implemented by the architect Nuno Portas, then the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Planning in Portugal’s first Provisional Government. Its purpose was to support people who lived in precarious conditions; at the time Portugal suffered from a shortfall of about 600,000 homes, with 25 percent of the population living below the minimum conditions for comfort, security, health and privacy. SAAL was intended as an assisted self-build model, in which residents would take part in building their own homes.
Portas led the ambitious but short-lived adventure from August 1974 to October 1976. Architects including Portas himself, Alexandre Alves Costa, Álvaro Siza Vieira and Gonçalo Byrne teamed up in brigades throughout the country, working directly with the people via neighbourhood associations. Unlike the initial intention of the programme, SAAL turned into a rapid process, with ungovernable dimensions, that went way beyond the original intentions of its initiators, involving various independent energies, tools and rules all over the country. In the end, there was not one SAAL; there were many.
Portugal’s new-born democracy manifested itself in urbanism and housing politics. Major demonstrations and the occupation of houses – mostly municipal projects under construction – defined everyday life across the country in the aftermath of the revolution. “Casas sim, barracas não!” (“Houses yes, shacks no!”) was one of the collective proclamations.
The demonstrations and informal assemblies were primarily led by women, who demanded dignified living conditions and discussing floor plans – effectively claiming housing as a female issue. Portas soon appointed the female architect Maria Proença as Director of the SAAL operations.
The risk of aggressive far-right reaction against the project was constant. Reactions ranged from boycotts to sabotage attempts by local authorities and landlords, including death threats against members of the Residents’ Committees. In January 1976 a bomb attack destroyed the Porto office of SAAL and two months later the car of the architect Alexandre Alves Costa was destroyed in another bombing. A counter-revolution ended the SAAL project in October 1976. Despite public demonstrations against its termination, an official order was issued for it to be “integrated” into municipal governments.
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»The risk of aggressive far-right reaction against the project was constant.«
The SAAL Process: Architecture and Participation, 1974-1976
In 2014 the Serralves Museum for Contemporary Art in Lisbon produced the first major exhibition on SAAL. The exhibition “The SAAL Process: Architecture and Participation, 1974-1976” presented 10 exemplary built projects in architectural models, historical photographs, sound recordings and film documentaries of the time. It also featured a contemporary reflection on the current state of some SAAL projects by photographers André Cepeda, José Pedro Cortes and Daniel Malhão. The exhibition was shown at the Serralves in 2014/2015, and at the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal until 4 October 2015.
seralves.pt
By then, “169 operations were active throughout the country, involving 41,665 families of poor residents. 2,259 new houses were under construction and there were over 5,741 in the planning stages”, according to scholar José António Bandeirinha.
None of the SAAL operations were fully completed. Many of them now lie forgotten and buried within in the urban tissue. Some, however, are now being revisited. For instance, Álvaro Siza’s SAAL-related project, the “Bouça” neighbourhood, was finally completed in 2006, after being abandoned in 1978 with two of its four blocks unbuilt. Despite its untimely end, SAAL remains a unique example of an alternative form of dialogue between architects and inhabitants. It transformed the perception of many architects with respect to the social function of their profession – in Portugal and beyond. I (Julia Albani)
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