CCA exhibition The SAAL Process Housing in Portugal 1974–76

SAAL stands for Serviço Ambulatório de Apoio Local, a service offered by the Portuguese government between 1974 and 1976, when a number of architects were asked to come up with housing solutions for the poorest members of society. The innovative, in some ways revolutionary feature of SAAL was active participation of residents’ associations and individual citizens in the design process. The architects led a group of technicians known as the “Brigade” and came up with projects with citizens and not only for them.

The CCA (Centre Canadien d’Architecture) presents the first exhibition focusing on this key experience about the architect’s social and political role, in which professionals such as: Gonçalo Byrne, Artur Rosa, Álvaro Siza, Fernando Távora and Manuel Vicente play a key role in dialogue with the population, coming up with new models of social housing for disadvantaged areas in Lisbon, Setúbal and Porto.
In only 26 months SAAL produced 170 projects benefitting 40,000 families. The projects the teams came up with at that time had great importance and international resonance both for professionals of the time and as an influence on subsequent European architecture.
The exhibition halls present a total of 10 projects chosen as representative of the solutions proposed by the architects involved in SAAL.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Title: Le processus du SAAL : Le logement au Portugal de 1974 à 1976
The SAAL Process Housing in Portugal 1974–76
curator: Delfim Sardo
organised by Serralves Contemporary Art Museum in Porto in collaboration with the CCA
Dates: May 12 – October 4 2015
Location: Montreal, Canada

Images courtesy of CCA

www.cca.qc.ca

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GALLERY