The Manutenção Militar Complex (MMC) was an industrial facility that produced food, uniforms and other goods for the Portuguese Army. The first bakery was accommodated in a former Convent – Convento das Grilas – by the end of the 19th Century. During the 20th Century, due to the needs during the First World War and the Portuguese Colonial War in the 1960s, the complex was expanded. Whilst the Portuguese Army reached 200,000 men in the 1960s, it is now reduced to 20,000 active soldiers. Gradually the factories closed and Manutenção Militar was finally substituted by a public enterprise MM-Gestão Partilhada in 2015. The termination of the industrial production raised the problem of finding new sustainable uses for this area on the Tagus riverfront, between the Pombaline City Harbour – Terreiro do Paço – and the Contemporary Parque das Nações. This is a challenging task: any future solution needs to have a dialogue with this current industrial heritage, which is deeply connected with recent Portuguese history, as well as with the Lisbon riverside area and the contemporary city.

This master thesis is part of the graduation studio named ‘Disclosing the Military City Lisbon’ as part of the chair Heritage and Architecture at the TU Delft. The studio assignment and project is initiated in collaboration with DOCOMOMO (International committee for documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the modern movement)
The start of the project was done by attending the 14th International DOCOMOMO Conference and joining the organised on-site workshop in Lisbon.

The graduation project is focused on the ‘South’ part of the Manutençao Militar Complex in Lisbon. This part has been vacant since 1992 due to military re-organisations. The objective is to adaptively re-use the total of about 34.000 m2 of vacant space.

When visiting the site the building that struck me the most was the silos. Because of it’s height, contrasting shape and standing at the end of a long street it immediately caught my eye. I have chosen the silos to focus my graduation on due to its key role as landmark, as face of the site (and surroundings), its vital role in my strategy for the complex and my fascination for the building.

The MMC was an industrial facility that produced food, uniforms and other goods for the Portuguese Army. During the twentieth century the complex was expanded. Whilst the Portuguese Army reached 200.000 men in the 1960’s, it is now reduced to 20.000 active soldiers. Gradually the factories closed and Manutencao Militar was finally substituted by a public enterprise in 2015. The termination of the industrial production raised the problem of finding new sustainable uses for this area on the Tagus riverfront, between the Pombaline City Harbour and the Contemporary Parque das Nacoes. This is a challenging task: any future solution needs to have a dialogue with this current industrial heritage, which is deeply connected with recent Portuguese history, as well as with the Lisbon riverside area and the contemporary city.

The strategy of the design assignment on the masterplan level stresses the importance of the age – friendly design and the sustainability of the development. The main users (target groups) will be local residents (of various age) and the newly discovered social group: Active Third Age Generation - so called Young Seniors. The place of the planned intervention was chosen carefully and it reflects the major ideas of the proposed masterplan and, in my opinion, can also serve as the catalyst of the whole project.

The Supermarket building is facing Rua do Grilo, one of the main streets in Beato district. It’s also one of the first building of MMC when the site is approached from the city centre side. At the same time its history goes back even to the XVII century therefore Supermarket is one of the most interesting structures on the site. The empty plot next to it poses another interesting challenge of the future design.
The function of the new development is combining two target groups mentioned before. Respecting the notions of place making, the main space of the upper floor of the building will consist the public garden which at the same time will connect the street level with the level of the MMC. In the volume above there will be an open school for elderly where they can learn or teach improving their skills and learning new ones. It will be mainly addressed to the local residents and it will aim to improve the condition of their lives: creating the meeting space and opening opportunities for the second jobs. In the basement, more profitable function will balance the social character of the school. The new apartments for elderly will secure the sustainable relationship between the buildings.

Having lost its productivity, MMC became isolated from its context. Most of its links to neighbour and region broke as a result of its changing role. A series of dilemmas
mainly exists as social conflicts and spatial conflicts appeared around the
border as result. However, as the carrier of social conflict in MMC and witness of colonial war, the enclosed border embraced the introverted character of MMC, which is its site spirit in the history. When the introverted character of site encounters the demand of connection, how to re-link MMC to the neighbourhood while protecting its site spirit turns into the main problem to be solved from my perspective.

The main research question for this design was: How can the human dimension be introduced in a former industrial warehouse, making the warehouse and it’s urban surroundings more suitable for residing for longer periods? The human dimension in this project was incorporated into three levels: Site level, building level and detail level. Starting from the people being able to transform the spaces according to their needs. To the adjustments to the building so that it acts upon the the factors mentioned by Jan Gehl. On site level some similar and different factors are incorporated so that people are feeling Protection, Comfort and Delight. What is currently missing at the site but can easly be incorporated to make sure that the warehouse and it’s urban surroundings are more suitable for staying for longer periods. Transforming the site from an industrial militairy site to a site where the social and educational meet to solve some issues present on site but also in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Social Educational Tangle: A human dimension for Lisbon’s industrial warehouses.The whole project is based on social connections and education, this comes together in the silos with the former warehouses. In the redesign attention is paid to the surroundings, the connections but also the functions and creating interaction between the social (public) spaces along with the educational spaces where collaboration and transmitting knowlegde is a keypoint in the design.