Bom dia, Casa do Vapor! transforming space | open perspectives | common public space Background
Cova do Vapor is a small fishermen community settled in the Almada County. Situated opposite of Lisbon, at the bank side of river Tejo, it has an industrial history ( one can see a shipyard, freight harbour and manufacturing) and it is governed since 1974 by the Portuguese communist party. Although the coastline is less developed compared to Cascais, Sintra and Belém with mainly worker or fishermen settlements and small farms, it is very closed to the city of Lisboa and in fact, the land is under high economic pressure. The coast of Caparica is interesting for promoters, investors and the tourism industry. Since the first constructions in 1940, due to the high erosion on the estuary of river Tejo, some of the houses erected on the sandbanks had to be moved back several times to more stable ground, suddenly found themselves on communal or private owned land. Due to gradual extensions or adaptations, each house looks different, revealing the sense of form and creativity of the house owners, who are themselves the constructors, with help from the neighbors. The common, informal architecture in Cova results from the absence of a legal and officially applied cadastral map and urbanist rules, which would lead to the permission for residential usage. Part of the area where the settlement moved to it has been declared protected as a natural reserve and now it’s not allowed to build anything on it – not even for the private proprietor. This is in a sense a protection for the already existing constructions, since building permission for development projects from investors shouldn’t be given in this area. The instance of this irregular status of “double illegality” led to a good working, self-organized structure and social conscience in the community. The „Associação de Moradores da Cova do Vapor“ not only organizes various activities in benefit of the local community but also substitutes the lack of municipality presence by taking responsibility for the development of a well-working public infrastructure, namely water
and electricity system as well as paving of the main road or drain water systems.
Cova do Vapor Beginnings “Temporary actions and participative building projects work as new forms of architectural interventions, that often open a social process while transforming the public space into a stage, or at least a better working common ground – for residents and visitors.” 1 The story begins with the case of Guimarães (Portugal), the European Capital of Culture 2012, where a scenography for the Curators’ Lab has been collaboratively built with exyzt and students from local universities. In exyzt collective people from different nationalities work together under the same principles of sharing knowledge, abilities and interests. It is a platform for the realization of multidisciplinary projects in which cultural and social behaviors, shared ideas and innovation intermingle in an elaborate although temporary commons space and which is collectively build. The exyzt working forces are composed by several initiatives. Among them is constructLab, a common space around the practice of construction. The main idea is that the process of construction becomes an occasion to meet and communicate with the mediation of tangible materials (mainly wood) and physical labor that can activate both body and soul. Thus, the space becomes active and the project actually starts, before the of-