Lisbon – The Duque da Terceira Square, in the Lisbon Tourist Center, was transformed into a giant board of the game Banco Imobiliário by Portuguese artist Bordalo II, in a critical intervention to the housing crisis in Portugal. The work, called “Provoc”, was installed without authorization from City Hall and removed this Friday (2) by the Lisbon City Council (CML), which alleged damage to the Portuguese sidewalk of the site.
The intervention rekindles the debate on access to housing in Portugal and especially in Lisbon, a city that has faced a significant increase in cost of living and pressure from real estate, a few days from a new election for the government, scheduled for May 18.
Known for large -scale works and strong political nature, Bordalo II set up the board with houses representing streets and avenues from various Portuguese cities, with prices ranging from 6,000 to 40,000 euros. The artist stated on social networks that “the right to housing is like a game”, criticizing inequality in access to housing. “Our cities are being converted into large game trays,” he wrote.
The facility canvas covered the whole square in Cais do Sodré, one of the central zones of the capital. Among the simulated properties were Campo Grande, Avenida Almirante Reis and Rossio, with values that alluded to the price of the square meter in the Portuguese capital. The play also included “luxury taxes” and other references to the real estate system.
According to CML, the work was considered a “city heritage attack” and will require repairs on the sidewalk. The artist was not allowed to perform the installation, which led to the intervention of the municipality.
This is not the first time that Bordalo II approaches the housing crisis. In 2023, he created the work “Local Dislocation”, at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint, where he set up stylized tents such as houses and plates with sayings such as “except tourists, digital nomads and visas Gold”, criticizing real estate speculation and the impact of tourism on popular housing.
