Time for lime

Here it’s called “cal”. It’s a technique that hasn’t died out completely “but is at risk”, for all sorts of reasons, says Joana Celine Guerreiro, 32.

Contrary to what happened in the past “people who live in traditional houses these days” don’t personally maintain them – and because of this a very special knowledge has been lost over generations.

What happens today is that “a painter takes over the responsibility for painting houses – and he simply goes to a paint shop and buys a plastic-coat paint, or whatever he decides is the best for the job”, explains Joana Guerreiro.

Then with a roller and brush he substitutes a tradition that not only gave texture and luminosity to a building, but also fulfilled a function.

“Cal (lime wash) is like our skin. It doesn’t let the rain in, but it allows walls to breathe. Beyond this, it has antiseptic properties”.

But the problem with “cal” is that “you need a lot more time between coatings”, which doesn’t conform to today’s economy or way of life.

Ironically, it’s a rather false negative pretext though, as while cal takes a lot longer to prepare and apply than industrial paints, it’s a whole lot cheaper. For example, with roughly €30 Joana Guerreiro and a group of seven volunteers were able to paint an entire row of traditional village houses in the centre of Alte.

The young architect also maintains that it’s “perfectly possible” to apply this very ecological material to contemporary constructions “as has been done for thousands of years”.

“Lime wash and earth are resources that are available in abundance in Nature, and they’re non-toxic. In Portugal, we have a lot of very good lime stone and on an industrial level, there’s enough production of lime wash to allow for a rebirth of this ancient technique”.

Joana Guerreiro learnt about “cal” from Iris Primersk (a French expert who renovates frescoes in chapels) at the «Terre et Lumière» education centre in Bise, southern France (www.chaux-grecque.com).

Her «domus mateR» project is relatively new. “It began as an way of trying to create my own employment – but while it hasn’t really got there yet, it works as a promotional blog about how to renovate old buildings in a good way”.

Another passing tradition that worries her is “stucco” – a technique that once flourished in the region. Again, it’s based on “cal”, with the addition of sand and natural pigments (to give colour), and can be used on both interior and exterior walls.

“But it’s a technique that’s vanishing in front of our eyes! No-one seems interested in reviving it – quite the contrary” as there are situations where stucco is being removed and substituted by layers of cement.

There is no law that says renovation work on old houses requires a town-hall approved project – and thus there’s no way of preventing “destructive practices” when it comes to local heritage.

“At the end of the day what this means is that people who embark on renovations are effectively spending money but renovating nothing. I think much too much trust is placed in contractors because there’s a lot of information” available on materials like “cal”.

Another “problem is that there’s no school for renovation and rehabilitation work. Every expert does what he or she knows - what he or she has studied.

But there’s no way of putting all these things together in a consensual way, so that they can be discussed by architects.

This is something still to be done”,

When it comes to the abandonment of traditional properties, Joana thinks this is a “cultural question”.

“It makes no sense that an empty building is left to fall to pieces until it disappears. But it happens again and again because renovation/ restoration costs a lot more than simply building something from scratch”.

The law requires that renovation work (on old buildings) be carried out every eight years. “If people abided by this/ if there was a national interest in doing so/ another plan/ different politics/ policies that actually worked for people” then perhaps the current panorama would be a little different.

“The new law for urban renovation allows for much more expeditious deadlines” when it comes to the licensing for this kind of work. “And it also gives municipalities more responsibilities when it comes to the protection of historic areas”, says Joana Guerreiro.

According to the architect, “cement began being used big time” in Portugal during the 60s. “Enter the paradigm for modern life”. And the result?

“Today’s Portuguese towns function like a form of cancer - they have nothing to do with the place they’re in. It doesn’t matter whether a building is constructed on the outskirts of Faro, Lisbon or Chelas. There’s never any consideration made to any human factors”, says Joana Guerreiro, who trained as an architect in Urban and Territorial Planning at Lisbon’s Architectural Faculty in 2002.

Thus “we’ve missed out on an urban society”, in that “an urban society is the relationship between people within a neighbourhood”. In her opinion what’s lacking are “places that encourage civility.

They could be social centres, or places where people meet. I think this is what’s missing: the feeling that towns belong to us”.

These days all we feel belongs to us is “my car, my family, my home”: But these things belong to each one of us. “What belongs to all of us?”

Asked as to how she thinks spaces could become better developed, the young architect considers there should be a “total break” from current practices.

These days there’s almost no public discussion before a project is begun. “It’s all one-sided”.

“I think civilian society has to (re)gain the power of its own opinion – the power to demand more human spaces. We have to reiterate the power to demand towns where people like to live – because this is good for everyone”, she concludes.

As to the future, Joana Guerreiro hopes to continue promoting public awareness days, like her «Dia da Cal» (Limewash Day), which took place in Cacela Velha on 19th June and brought a number of people together to whitewash walls, like people used to do in days gone by…

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