The Venice of the Atlantic?

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It all probably started for the Santos district of Lisbon when it became the site for a design school, the Instituto de Artes Visuais, Design e Marketing, commonly known as IADE nearly twenty years ago. But, over the last few years, the area has been attracting not just students but designers and architects. A supply of young creative talent plus large office spaces at very affordable rents has proved to be quite a pull for the creative industries ranging from furniture designer and architects to computer graphics artists.
Santos is near Lisbon’s docklands area but neighbouring districts include Lapa with its smart homes and embassies and Estrella, a pretty and very desirable but slightly less expensive area than luxurious Lapa. Buildings in Santos range from nineteenth century warehouses to older apartment blocks. Some, complete with French windows and wrought iron balconies, date back over two hundred years when the great earth quake of 1755 resulted in a rebuilding of much of the city.
Along side these classic buildings are plainer, more functional twentieth century apartment blocks and light industrial workshops. Towards the docks themselves the area naturally becomes rougher - but for many of Lisbon’s hip young crowd this edginess has been part of the appeal.
For many years the area was considered slightly dangerous with its wild night life but it has now reinvented itself as a funky area full of night clubs and restaurants and, latterly, designer furniture shops, showcasing Portuguese products, and art galleries. These days there are around 4,000 students studying design, architecture, illustration and the audiovisual arts in some of Portugal’s cutting edge design colleges which have been set up down there in old warehouses and factories.
The real impetus for change in the area came about in 2005 when it was rebranded by a group of local design businesses, interiors shops and smart restaurants as The Santos Design District, complete with website and unofficial marketing operation. Smart shops include a branch of Armani Casa which was something of a trailblazer when it opened.
Ligne Roset is another well known name but many are one off stores owned and managed by Portuguese designers and retailers. Outlets such as Santos de Casa showcases Portuguese talent and Paris-Sete is where Santos residents can find homewares by names such as B&B Italia and Vitra in an airy, neo-industrial setting.
Santos is very much the place for designers to show their work in Lisbon these days. Every month the design shops are open until 10pm and people come and look around, have a drink and then go on to eat in one of the restaurants. This event which was initiated by the Santos Design District group has made a big difference in the area.
A new high speed train link between Lisbon and Madrid as well as a new Lisbon airport will stimulate growth.
There are cafes and bars outside the traditional apartment blocks in the area and, as with most of Lisbon, the beach is a twenty minute drive out of Santos.
Although Santos’ transition has been slow, one factor that should speed up the gentrification process greatly is a new development by the British architect Norman Foster which is currently going through the planning process. This 65,000 square metre mixed development in the middle of the district will include homes, shops, restaurants, arts spaces and a hotel. It will also be environmentally friendly and have as a landmark a tower which pays homage to the Campanile in St Marks Square in Venice.
Is Santos to be the Venice of the Atlantic? You’ll just have to go there to find out! Have fun


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