Expo 98

A EXPO 98 DE LISBOA: PrOjEtO E LEgADO
EXPO 98, LISBON: PrOjECt AND LEgACY jorge Figueira

ARQTEXTO 16

tradução português-inglês: rafael Saldanha Duarte

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1 Álvaro Siza, Pavilhão de Portugal.1
1 Álvaro Siza, Portuguese Pavilion.1

OBjECtIVES AND CULtUrE
Expo’98, the world Exposition that took place in Lisbon, was essentially an operation of urban regeneration. the event itself took place successfully between May 22 and
September 30. But from the outset it was also understood as an opportunity for rehabilitation of a large degraded area in the eastern city. the festivities would allow regeneration of the site and “opening” the city to the tagus rive, known there as the Mar de Palha a recurring intention in
Lisbon since the 1980s. thus it is an operation with a short duration – that of the Exposition itself – and a long duration – which in the twelve years since then allows some conclusions to be drawn.
Expo 98 allowed reconversion of a port area full of industrial waste, storage areas and obsolete materials, providing a city with new cultural, commercial and rail infrastructure as well as new housing areas. In this broader sense the objectives were achieved. But as we will see the operation has its limitations and its critics. Firstly, a certain democratic idea that Expo’98 could lead to a more open and global redevelopment of this area of the city did not come true. there is on the contrary a certain trend towards
“condominium” or even “ghetto” in a more radical version of what was understood to be the driving force of a more general and open process of urban regeneration.
By reflecting the urban culture of the period and also faced with the problems of the aftermath of the 92 Seville
Universal Exposition, Expo 98 set great store on the idea of city making. the preference in Lisbon was that the festivities did not have the same fairytale quality of Seville, in exchange for greater post-Expo animation. the assumption