Participatory architecture of the Saal and the Porto School

Abstract

This article analyzes the experience of the Porto School in Portugal in the 1970s with regard to the housing deficit and its interactions in the political and social process of the April 25 Revolution. The Porto School has become a "synonym" of Portuguese architecture in recent years, in which the media has become relevant by opening to the public's knowledge the work of architects. The Porto School was thrown into the whirlwind of social movements of the 1960s, in which students wanted more than an academic model, arguing that the course should enable the architect to answer social questions, so that students and teachers of the former School of Fine Arts of Porto – now The Faculty of Architecture of Porto – starred in an important project that became known as the Local Ambulatory Support Service (Serviço de Apoio Ambulatorial Local [Saal]) Operation. The process of participatory architecture called Saal was an important milestone in the course of Portugal's housing policies with international repercussion, having a greater visibility in the city of Porto. Although brief in the period that it was in force (1974-1976), its great differential was the participation of residents in the project process, a fact that was still unheard of, putting architects, workers, and the government “side by side”.