WASTELAND FEAST (Porto/PT, 2018)
Temporary activation of the former São Vicente de Paulo site.
Temporary activation of the former São Vicente de Paulo site.
The São Vicente de Paulo neighborhood was founded in 1947 on previously uncultivated land south of Corujeira Square, in Porto, and was demolished between 2005 and 2008. The site it once occupied remains empty to this day.
Banquete Baldio was a gathering held at the former neighborhood viewpoint. The invitation aimed to temporarily reactivate what was once one of the neighborhood’s main social spaces, creating a place for meeting and conversation about the site around food.
Banquete Baldio began with the idea of carrying out a series of experiments using edible fruits and herbs collected on the site itself. Food was prepared from what was available on the land: carob was turned into flour and used to make cake and biscuits; figs were made into a drink; edible wild plants became a herb paste; fennel was used to make bread; bay leaves were infused in olive oil, and so on. Using species from the site — many of which once grew in the backyards of former houses — was a way of subverting the supposed sense of uselessness often associated with vacant lots, spaces seen as obsolete. Both the banquet and the Sound Walk were ways of inviting people to visit the site while it still exists. During the banquet, conversations naturally emerged about the site, its location, the investments being made in the surrounding area, and the future uses planned for the place.
Photos by Inés Ballesteros
