Revolution Under Construction: Book Launch with Sara Almodovar Pereira & Ricardo Santos

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 their recently published book, Revolution Under Construction: The SAAL Housing Process, 1974–76, 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 is joined by Ricardo Santos to celebrate the Lisbon launch of the publication, out now with MACK.