Quartel Cabeço da Bola | Cultural Centre

Project description

The first phase of the intervention involved repairing some spaces and buildings to allow over 40 organisations and their daily staff to settle in. It is worth noting that this was not just a regular workspace, but also a temporary one. There were weeks, for example, when three theatre companies were inside the Barracks rehearsing.

From the monthly assemblies, emerged the need to create a Placemaking collective, which discussed, proposed, and executed some interventions in the spaces between buildings which were freely accessible to all. This included shading, and interventions in paved areas to raise awareness of their responsibilities in heat islands within the city.

Between October 2022 and October 2023, a vacant Republican National Guard Barracks transformed into a hub of citizenship, culture, and inclusion. Over the course of a year, more than 900 socio-cultural programming and training events took place, involving over 80 occasional partners and attracting around 50,000 visitors. Neighbours and social partners appropriated a safe, intergenerational, and multicultural space that included the participation of activist groups focusing on climate and gender issues, as well as citizens in various social vulnerability situations (homelessness and refuge). This created a permanent working space for 40 socio-cultural projects (individual and collective), involving 190 workers. In total, over 1,000 workers from the cultural and social intervention sector were involved, contributing to an estimated economic impact of 1.3 million euros, based on the turnover of resident entities. All these individuals helped build "The most beautiful Barracks in the city," which grew in the variety of projects and the number of initiatives.

We created an open space for the neighbourhood and the world, promoting culture through social inclusion.