Bouça Housing Complex

The Bouça Housing Complex is a notable example of modernist architecture designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira. Initiated in the mid-1970s under the SAAL (Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local) initiative, a government program aimed at providing affordable housing following Portugal's revolution, the project saw construction halted in 1978 due to the program's termination in 1976. At that point, only 58 of the planned 131 units were completed, leaving the project in an incomplete state with limited access. For nearly 25 years, the site stood as a testament to the unfinished project in central Porto. In 1999, Siza was tasked with completing the complex, finalizing the remaining buildings and renovating the existing structures, with completion achieved in 2006. This reconstruction particularly focuses on the incomplete aspect of the project, specifically at Building D (Bloco D), which was intended to be built in the final phase to house 16 dwellings but was never constructed as originally designed.