Last Friday, Praça Duque da Terceira, in Cais do Sodré, won a new face by the hands of Bordalo II, which turned it into a gigantic monopoly board-an artistic intervention with a very clear message about the housing crisis in Portugal.
The installation, called challengecovers the roundabout of Lisbon Square with a huge canvas that simulates the famous board game. The metaphor could not be more direct: “Our cities are being converted to large game trays. The right to housing, present in the Constitution, is now at the mercy of luck or unlucky. Some players exchange homes for hotels, some mortgage to bank, others are the bank – but in this game, not everyone starts with the same amount and few receive the artist,” the artist who shared the art. images of the work.
The choice of monopoly is not innocent. Created in the US in the early twentieth century, the game simulates a real estate market where the goal is to lead opponents to bankruptcy – a disturbing parallel with what many feel today in large Portuguese cities.
