The story of Largo in Lisbon is one of the two stories filmmaker Yilmaz Vurucu has been closely following for his feature documentary on community initiatives. He had originally visited Largo Residencias to do a case study for the Open Heritage project (with Eutropian), and created a short film as part of the Open Heritage series.
Gentrification impacts largo
Largo had been renting a building at the time, operating it as a social business, residencies for artists and hostel. The work of Largo is one worth being awestruck at, as they played a major role in connecting with the community in and around Intendente. The gentrification of the area resulted in them being evicted from the place they came to know and refer to as their home. It goes without saying that gentrification and rising real estate costs, driving locals out of their own neighborhoods, is one of the major topics that will be dealt with in the documentary.
Moving to Quartel
Luckily, a compound only a few hundred metres away from the square was available. Having functioned as a center for the Gendarmarie, ths location had been emptied for a while and is to be used as part of the site for future social housing.
The Largo group managed to obtain permission to utilize this plot as a temporary base. The new Largo (Quartel) now operates on a wider and larger scale, with the same enthusiasm, core team, and motivation. Their goals and principles are the same, yet methods are not adapted to the reality of their new setting. Though it’s temporary, they hope to play an active role in the development of the space.
Filmmaker and Eutropian colleague Yilmaz Vurucu visited Lisbon to document the transition and follow up on this inspiring story. Yilmaz will be heading to Bratislava to follow up on the developments at he Market Hall soon, before he begins editing the feature documentary.