SAAL (Local Ambulatory Support Service) was a seminal, even if short-lived, episode of Portuguese Architecture. Taking place just after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, it rallied architects to help populations through a process of political participation. For the first major retrospective on the subject, the exhibition design avoided any kind of nostalgic esthetics of agitprop. It focused instead on the features of its venue, Serralves Museum in Porto, designed by one of the key figures of this process: Álvaro Siza. A beige continuous line was painted in the walls of all rooms, serving as reference for the materials on display. In some rooms white rubber mats and lacquered wooden stairs replicated the small scale of the dwelling units from the time. This primer creates critical distance, to look back on SAAL.

Date: 2014 | Location: Oporto, Portugal | Client: Fundação de Serralves | Curator: Delfim Sardo | Architecture: Patrícia Barbas, Diogo Lopes
Collaborators: Guilherme Oliveira, Margarida Esteves, Ricardo Lima, Sérgio Catumba, Vítor Sá | Display Setup: Fundação de Serralves
Photography: Jorge Trípa, Fundação de Serralves | Area: 1620 m2 | Budget: N/A