Quinta do Loureiro

Located on the outskirts of Lisbon, Quinta do Loureiro is one of three neighbourhoods built to rehouse the population of the Casal Ventoso neighbourhood after its demolition.
In this relatively recent neighbourhood with a long and complex history, we wanted to explore the process of naming places as a way of collective ownership of the city by its residents.

Instead of the normal use of urban signage as a standardized form of regulation, control or bureaucratic management, our exercise proposed liberate this tool to those who inhabit the space and have emotional ties with it.

This substitution of authorship over street signs was done by restoring discarded signs at the end of their cycle and superimposing new designs and messages on them.

Exploring the aesthetics and language of road signs, the exercise began by asking residents to map the neighbourhood by illustrating their individual and collective references within it. Secondly, in joint discussions, we tried to understand how these places could be named/represented by the signs and what messages they should contain.

One of the questions focused on the name of the neighbourhood itself. Through a survey carried out by the children, the aim was to find out the different official and unofficial names that residents use to refer to the neighbourhood. The survey sought to discuss the multiplicity of experiences and perspectives towards the history of the neighbourhood and its current challenges.