Villa Sousa, a 1912 Valmor-winning mansion designed by the architect Norte Júnior, an imposing building at number 22 of Alameda das Linhas de Torres, in Lumiar, was forgotten for years. Today, only the facade and walls survive from this old mansion.
But the works recently started there have revived the memory of Lisbon residents. The alarm sounded on Fórum Cidadania Lx, a Facebook group that brings together several residents in Lisbon: is what remains of Villa Sousa, or Palacete da Alameda das Linhas de Torres (as it is also known), at risk of being demolished?
In the Message, the Lisbon City Council clarified that a subdivision operation is being carried out on that land, that is, the creation of several lots for urban construction. A process that began in 2010, and whose request for works was discussed and approved at a City Council meeting on July 19, 2023. In it, the Villa Sousa building is identified as a heritage site to be maintained.
But, after all, what does this new project that is about to be born in Alameda das Linhas de Torres consist of?
This is an operation delimited to the north by Rua Joaquim Agostinho, to the south by Rua Agostinho Neto, to the east by Rua Embaixador Martins Janeira and to the west by Alameda das Linhas de Torres. An operation carried out by the companies PGCG 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Investimentos Imobiliários, SA, SOLATU (Sociedade de Administração de Properties, Lda.), EMPCO – Empreendimentos Comerciais e Urbanísticos, Lda. and ODIVE- HOME.
There, it is planned 11 lots dedicated to housing and the tertiary sector, with commercewith a maximum number of 405 fires in total, in a total construction area of 67,958.25 m2.
There should also be a green space – provided by the municipality – for collective use, as well as pedestrian spaces, sidewalks, road and circulation areas and public surface parking spaces.
As for what remains of the Palacete das Alamedas das Linhas de Torres, this structure will remain, integrated into a plot destined for tertiary use. Which? According to the CML, as there is currently a subdivision phase in question, it is not yet possible to license a specific activity for the building.
The subdivision operation in force identifies the Villa Sousa structure on a lot with an area of 1568.29 m2, of which 902.60 m2 are intended for tertiary use.
What is certain is that this building is still a keeper of stories about the old city and the conservation of heritage from other times – and for this reason it raised the alarms of neighbors and curious Lisbon residents.
“The most beautiful house built in the city of Lisbon in 1912“
To tell the story of Villa Sousa, or Palacete da Alameda das Linhas de Torres, it is necessary to go back to a time when it did not yet exist.
That time is remembered at work “Architectural rehabilitation methodology: Villa Sousa Palace”, by José Luís Camões Tavares. In the 16th century, the place where Villa Sousa stands today was known as “Campo 28 de Maio”. There a public promenade was installed, which would be called “Campo Grande”, where trees were planted in a romantic style garden that reached the 19th century with the same layout, becoming the stage for the first horse races.
Until the 20th century, Alameda do Lumiar, as Alameda das Linhas de Torres was then called, was considered an “out of doors” place. In 1911, it gained the name by which we know it today. Nothing more or less than an allusion to the lines of Torres Vedras which, during the French invasions, made it impossible for Commander Massena’s army to progress, forcing its withdrawal from Portugal.
It was at the beginning of the 20th century that José Carreira de Sousa, a banker about whom little information is available, commissioned the architect Norte Júnior to design a mansion in that same avenue, with Zacharias Gomes Lima as the civil builder. The project was submitted to municipal services on October 15, 1910.
In 1912, the Villa Sousa Palace, characterized by the elegance of the turret, the sculptural work of the stonework and the use of the full arch and columns, won a Valmor Prize – the second won by its architect – with the members of the jury considering the palace “the most beautiful house built in the city of Lisbon in 1912”. An award that distinguishes the architectural quality of buildings in the city of Lisbon.
Designed by the Valmor Awards record holder
Behind this building, there is the story of the architect who won the most awards Valmor throughout his career.
Manuel Joaquim Norte Júnior was one of the best-known architects of his generation, with a style that was based on eclectic aesthetics, geometricism, luxury and decorative elements inspired by Art Nouveau.
It was he who designed Casa Malhoa (today Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves), houses on Avenida da República, Café Nicola, in Rossio, the Royal Cine, in Graça, Pensão Tivoli, on Avenida da Liberdade and A Brasileira do Hissing, emotional seat of the Message.
At work “From Avenidas Novas to Avenida de Berna”by art historian Raquel Henriques da Silva, the author describes it:
“His style is also uncertain, using resources from ‘second Empire’ decoration (French, of course), but also superficial echoes of Art Nouveau and various external exoticisms (Moorish, Orientalizing and ruralist, whether Swiss or English) and internal (the “neo Manueline” and romantic, ruralisms and, increasingly, less rigorous marks of the ‘Portuguese House’ that Raul Lino was then creating).”
“Interestingly, Norte Júnior, who, in his youth, was one of the most successful architects in the eclectic and revivalist aesthetic, reconverted, with great ease and effectiveness, to modernism. Within this taste he built dozens of single-family houses and, above all, buildings, often in partnership with civil engineering companies.”
A mansion voted into abandonment
Palacete Villa Sousa has undergone changes over the years.
In 1920, José Carreira de Sousa ordered the construction of coach houses (houses that stored carriages) on the land attached to the property. But, in the 60s, they would be demolished because they “find themselves in a state of ruin with danger to the lives of those who live there”as can be seen in the Municipal Archive.
A decade later, Villa Sousa changed ownership: it would belong to José Maria Gonçalves and Joaquim Dias Pinho, residents of Avenida Almirante Gago Coutinho. Five years later, it was already in the possession of SOLATU (the company that still owns it today). That year, the company expressed interest in developing a project there, as can be seen in the requests in the file.
But nothing seems to have progressed, and the building was forgotten.
In 2010, photographer Brito Gastão e Silva published a post on his blog “Ruin’arte”, where he photographs the country’s ruins, about this palace that had become a ruin.
“When I see a heritage jewel in that state, I feel that it is a historical, artistic, economic, social and environmental crime”, says the photographer.
Upon entering the house, “the size of an Olympic swimming pool”, as he describes it on his blog, he realized that his garden had been transformed into a vegetable garden. “It must be the most expensive and chicest vegetable garden in Lisbon, judging by the price per square meter in this area of the city, in addition to being able to boast of being a Valmor vegetable garden…”, he wrote.
At the end of the 20th century, a statement from the Sapadores Firefighters Regiment warned that the property was vacant, “in a state of ruin and with the door and window openings open”.
In the new millennium, in 2004, the CML informed the owners of its intention to take administrative possession of the property for the forced execution of conservation works, which had already been carried out by the owners – at issue was the reduction of part of the wall surrounding area and its replacement, the uprooting and replanting of two palm trees and the cleaning of existing plants on the walls of the building.
But the building never regained its former splendor… until now?
How to keep memory?
In the 2017 work by José Luís Camões Tavares, the allotment operation was already announced and is now finally moving forward:
“The current owner of the property is the Family Society of Property Management for Farming and Tourism SOLATU. Together with other subdivision entities for the surrounding buildings, of which CML is also a part, a subdivision project was created, in which the property under analysis is included, and its demolition is not foreseen in this project.”
Photographer Brito Gastão e Silva argues that heritage such as Villa Sousa should be mobilized for housing. “Housing is a problem at the moment”, he concludes. José Luís Camões Tavares defended in his thesis the conversion of the Palacete into a guesthouse or hostel for students.
However, as this is a subdivision operation, it is still unclear how Villa Sousa will be rehabilitated and transformed.
Madalena Romão Mira, editor and researcher in the areas of History and Documentary Sciences who studied the work of architect Norte Júnior, considers it essential that Villa Sousa be preserved. “Today, the building is very dirty and deteriorated, but just look at old photographs to see that the building is elegant, that facade is very harmonious…”, she begins by saying.
For the researcher, the most important thing is to maintain memory.
“Ultimately, it’s about integrating this residue from the history of Lisbon’s architecture.” But it’s not just the facade that needs to be maintained and integrated, he argues. “In front of the house, there is a wall with a gate, and this gate is very important, it is a butterfly gate, so characteristic of Norte Júnior.”
For rehabilitation, the publisher proposes paying attention to successful examples of heritage preservation: “What are the successful situations? What did they do? What were your premises, values, forms of commitment to maintain said memory?”, he asks.
And he gives the example of the Factory Project, in Barreiro, which gave new life to the industrial heritage of CUF (Companhia União Fabril), hosting artistic and cultural activities. “There is effective preservation, with a use that is inexorably linked to the past, but which is used daily”, he concludes.
Ana da Cunha
He was born in Porto, 27 years ago, but since 2019 he has made Alfa Pendular his home. In Lisbon, she discovered her love for stories, listening to and telling them on Avenida de Berna, at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
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