There are hundreds of shops closed in Lisbon, a problem magnified by the present crisis. Ground Floor Act wants to reconnect architects with the ground floor, advocating the displacement of the viewing angle, from the aerial view/ bird view to the street view, by the activation of a vacant shop as a rehearsal place for spacial practices, open to the public, in order to propose new possibilities for Architecture practice and contribute to the awareness of its breadth from social, cultural and political perspectives.

Ground Floor Act is going to stage a trial ground through Public Office – an architecture studio open to the public, where ARTÉRIA projects the rehabilitation of the old Alarcão Palace for Teatro Praga, and the Ground Sessions – a series of talks where some of the projects that have built Lisbon in recent years will be presented and debated, with the objective of generating a place of reflection for architects and non-architects on the scope of the action of architecture.