A MANIFESTO as a built integrated rehabilitation model. ARTÉRIA invited RENOVAR A MOURARIA to join forces and bring about effective and sustainable action for regenerating Lisbon’s historic districts. Manifesto is the built work. It will rehabilitate a building that is to be the Mouraria Community Centre. It will provide social and cultural facilities for its inhabitants and transform the work process into a Manifesto for Urban Rehabilitation.

1] MANIFESTO BUILDING reflects on other ways of rehabilitating Lisbon’s historic centre, focusing on buildings which, because of their location, area or typology, are less appealing targets for real estate agents. However, they form most of Lisbon’s historic centre and represent a distinctive and unique heritage that we must cherish.

2] MANIFESTO BUILDING defends a way of thinking and acting within the framework of containment and the use of existing resources. Conceptually, there will only be specific interventions in neuralgic spots without affecting what already exists whenever possible and desirable. The present building will undergo minor changes so as to meet the needs of the functional program that includes a cafeteria and gallery, a studio, and an inner tire.

3] MANIFESTO BUILDING demonstrates that rehabilitating is not more expensive than building anew, and it is certainly cheaper than demolishing a building while maintaining its façade. This kind of intervention is mistakenly understood to be a form of rehabilitation.

4] MANIFESTO BUILDING argues for a technical and creative view in a context where the most suitable action is one of restraint – akin to acupuncture for urban neuralgic points – that heightens memories and reconstructs places that have been forever for the future.

A life cycle analysis (LCA) will identify and quantify the energy and materials used as well as the waste and emissions released into the environment. An economical evaluation will also be carried to translate the commitment of the environmental and economic benefits throughout the life cycle analysis of the building. This study will be developed in partnership with the Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL).