The Sharing Place: A Play House and More... Part II

Read the original version in Portuguese here.

Published on July 04, 2026

The deck is finished, the beams and columns have already been painted, and construction is moving forward at a good pace at the Guarda Housing Complex in Perafita, Matosinhos, Portugal, which will very soon see the completion of Uma Casa de Brincar e Não Só… / Not Only a Playhouse, built as part of the second edition of “O Lugar de Partilha.” At the end of the first week on-site, there is still much work to be done for this Self-Construction Laboratory organized by Casa da Arquitectura (CA) – Portuguese Center for Architecture and curated by Roberto Cremascoli, but spirits are high, and by August 10th, everything will be ready for the local community to enjoy.

The work is hard, but little by little, the results are starting to show. The CA's Educational Service has also made its mark on the Perafita neighborhood through frequent activities involving local children.

During a visit to the site, the Mayor of Matosinhos, Luísa Salgueiro, highlighted the importance of this “unprecedented experience” by the CA, which, “together with a team of architects from various backgrounds, designed a simple architectural structure to improve people's lives.” “It is truly an initiative of sharing, created with everyone's collaboration and with various entities, and in the future, it will indeed be a Place of Sharing,” concluded the mayor.

“It is a true relationship of shared knowledge,” emphasizes Carla Barros, Coordinator of Activities and Content at CA and Production Coordinator for “O Lugar de Partilha,” pointing out that Casa da Arquitectura “has as one of its missions to bring architecture to a broad public, using simple and open language, promoting an understanding of the discipline's process so that people can appreciate it and understand not only the creative process but also all the technical constraints it undergoes.” This is the ideal stage for that. “During these two weeks, we have a small sample of what project development is and its relationship with the different specialties,” says Carla Barros, highlighting the “importance of students working with their own hands. It is primarily about the work process. The most important thing is not the final result, but the process and the contact with the community.”

The Sharing Place: A Play House and More... Part II - Image 5 of 17 — © Roberto Cremascoli

Agnese Nascimben, a 24-year-old Italian student finishing her architecture degree at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP), shares this view. Beyond the social or ethical purpose, she highlights the importance of “teamwork, which for us as students is more complicated because we are more used to working individually.” For Agnese, the opportunity to “enter a reality that is very different from the one we see as students, which is more touristy, more romantic,” is also fundamental. “It is important to be aware of the city's various sides, to move away from its stereotypes.” The future architect knows what she is talking about. She had already participated in the first edition of “O Lugar de Partilha” and did not want to miss out on joining this year's team. A returning participant in the best sense, she values the environment created among the participants.

Under the coordination of architect-tutors Roberto Cremascoli, Edison Okumura, Ivo Poças Martins, and Dulcineia dos Santos, 15 students and young architects from various parts of the world (Australia, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, and Portugal) are helping to give shape to this facility desired by the community.

Casa da Arquitectura's partners for this project include the Matosinhos Municipality, MatosinhosHabit, the Union of Parishes of Perafita, Lavra, and Santa Cruz do Bispo, and numerous local clubs and associations, as well as the School of Architecture of the University of Minho. The project is also supported by JPinto Leitão, CIN, Hilti, OtiimaArtWorks, Nogueira Fernandes Lda, QT Civil Portugal, To Work For, Zeus Sport, and Fixpaços.