Manifesto Building

Now the home of the Casa Comunitária da Mouraria [Mouraria Community House], this space that has assumed its role of manifesto in the form of a building was born some 8 years ago – a model for integrated renovation, a manifesto for effective and sustainable regeneration of Lisbon’s historic quarters. That was the challenge taken up by Artéria architectural studio and the Renovar a Mouraria [Renew Mouraria] Association: to renovate a building that was to serve as the Casa Comunitária da Mouraria, a facility to be used by the people, transforming the whole work process and all it involved into a manifesto for urban regeneration. Today the building houses the Association, which centralises here its interventions and activities in the neighbourhood and wider city. Its work is built around three main pillars – cultural and artistic programmes, the organisation of community support services free of charge and entrepreneurship and social innovation. The spaces provides services such as the Citizenship Office, study assistance services for children aged 6 to 18, and Portuguese and literacy classes for migrants, to name just a few.