The city of Lisbon has a number of unique places which revive a forgotten urban and neighbourhood living, on the account of last decades social changes. The public wash-houses are an example of this: huge tanks used to wash clothes and a meeting point between feminine generations.

César Barrio dignifies this heritage building upon it in the project Quatro Paredes de Água [Four Walls of Water], in which he conceives a series of curtains painted with acrylic, thus remembering clothes drying. The transparency and translucency of the material dialogues with the warm luminosity of Lisbon, evoking, along way, the forgotten practice and image of the Lavadouro das Francesinhas [Francesinhas Wash-House], in Bairro da Madragoa.

The installation integrates also a programme of parallel activities, which will bring together architects and artists. Up until now, a conversation surrounding the theme Memória e Território – A Cidade sonhada [Memory and Territory – the Dreamt City] is confirmed, with the architects Luís Vilhena and Sérgio Fazenda, and moderation by Mário Caeiro.

Until 31 May, at the Lavadouro das Francesinhas, Bairro da Madragoa, don’t miss Quatro Paredes de Água, by César Barrio.