Since 2014, house prices in Portugal have been rising by more than 6% a year.

Lisbon has been the worst affected municipality in Portugal, infecting the surrounding municipalities and pushing its inhabitants out of the city center.

In a world defined by perpetual change, as architects, we see ourselves as catalysts for positive transformation, entrusted with the responsibility of actively shaping our surroundings. We believe that the intersection of creativity and practicality, where vision meets reality, is the road to design for a hopeful future.

While designing such an impactful project in the heart of the city of Lisbon, near the historic Basílica da Estrela and along Infante Santo Avenue, we found that the design strategy of the competition should combine housing with public spaces open to everyone.

In addition to providing the city with 100 affordable housing units, the winning proposal seeks to bridge social gaps within urban areas and address the lack of outdoor spaces in residential buildings. By creating new, inviting public spaces that seamlessly interchange with the built environment, the proposal aims to invigorate and enhance the urban experience, promoting pedestrian circulation, transparency in commercial areas, and emphasizing the vital role of people in shaping the city.

With a strong focus on creating a "people-oriented" mindset, the proposal's core principle revolves around the intrinsic relationship between built mass and public spaces – the office stands for design public space before private. This theme has been consistently endorsed by MASSLAB. To emphasize this vision, the proposal stems from two generous public zones: a lush green garden and a stable paved square. Though contrasting in nature, these spaces harmoniously complement each other when experienced together. The organic design of the garden offers multiple sensory experiences making use of water features, topography, lighting, vegetation, and visual connectivity. Meanwhile, the Basilica Square acts as a regular geometric element, seamlessly connecting the main pathways. The proposed plazas and the integration with a new landscape fully address the program's needs and specificities, aligning cohesively with the historical surroundings.

The awarded project was praised by the jury for its exceptional urban integration and architectural relationship, once the project stood out from other proposals because it integrated new buildings with the existing urban framework and infrastructure with profound respect. With a special location in the heart of Lisbon, and with housing as the main focus, these buildings of 20.000 m2 will also offer commercial areas, and two generous public spaces open to the city.

The designed proposal brings a new approach to urban living worldwide, blending functionality with flexibility to create a living environment tailored to individual needs, setting the stage for the future of residential design in cities that are linked to urban integration as one single biome that tackles individual necessities within public demands.

Model in Habitar Lisboa exhibition, at Belém Cultural Center (CCB). Model picture by Nuno Ferreira Santos for Público newspaper.