Porto Think Tanks, a selected EIT community New European Bauhaus project, was designed as a laboratory for experimenting (enhancing creative and technological ideas) with the typologies of Porto public wash-houses (Lavadouros) and their powerful past.
Considering the historical background of lavadouros, as equipment used by women and lower classes, the project wishes to actualize the use of these public spaces regarding today´s ideas of gender equality, class mobility, and social inclusion.
In the medium-long term, the aim is the requalification, valorization, and actualization of this tangible heritage (the architectonic artifacts and the public space), as well as the immaterial matter (the practices and nature associated with them).
As public spaces related to watercourses and neighborhood relations, the challenge is to re-contextualize their essential values to our times and improve their network in the city landscape.
Let’s think about these tanks!