Social housing policies in Portugal over the last 25 years: Three study cases

Abstract

Theory of the Portuguese contemporary of architecture had based fundamental concepts on the answers given to the lacks verified in the 1970s when the Carnation Revolution (1974) happened. In those years, Housing subject was deeply debated among the architects, foreseeing the resolution of the dramatic situation of Portuguese society of that time. After the SAAL program, launched in the revolutionary period, between 1974 and 1976, other programs were framed, giving continuity to the housing policies built under the democratic Constitution text (1976). This article focuses three study cases, presenting the architectural features that resulted from the applications three different political lines. The article aims at reflecting about a temporal arch of 25 years, analyzing as main cases, a new intervention in the outskirt of Lisbon located in Sargento Abílio neighbourhood, the renovation project of the Lagarteiro neighborhood built in the early 70s in the limits of Porto municipality, concluding with an intervention in the historical area of Porto in Tomás Gonzaga street, close to the borders defined by UNESCO as Humanity Heritage.