Designing your dream – ReMix Project

Auteur : Joël Obrecht - Publié le : 2013-11-25 10:13 -

City: Lisbon, Portugal

The Remix Project, dedicated to social and sustainable design, started three years ago in Lisbon. Every year the project has managed to win support of the municipal Vip- Zip program, aimed at neighborhoods priority intervention. Last year to increase the sustainability, the ReMix has introduced a service that relies on the provision of services to employees recruited from among the inhabitants of the district. When ReMix started, the team received more than 300 applicants, of which they have to choose just five. One of the selected is Antonio Paolo. Since then he became constant part of the team. The coordinator of the ReMix project is Angelo Campota, who recruited the team, among hundreds of nominations.

Some of the recently built objects are a colorful chessboard made with leftover blinds, a speaker lined with remnants of PVC and lamps Horace and Maria da Luz created from leftover printing plates “offset”. A Portuguese design project has found a clever way to repurpose an all-too-common form of plastic waste while also creating…plastic birdhouse or elegant clear vase. This year the team opened a store right next to the workshop, the District of PG (Rua Bento Goncalves , 721). More about ReMix tells us media and digital marketing consultant and ReMix’s project manager Goncalo Nunes Rodrigues.

Interview with Goncalo, from Petya Kolentsova, reporter

Goncalo, could you explain how come idea to create ReMix project and why did you choose exactly this area in Lisbon?

The Remix Project, sponsored by the Association Entremundos and funded by the city of Lisbon Municipality is located in the Bairro do Armador (Chelas), a vulnerable territory, characterized by insecurity, problems of urban hygiene and public space. The remix comes with the idea of addressing these issues, promoting community participation, co-responsibility of the residents and their training, the dimension of social innovation and sustainability.

What is the main goal of the project?

The ReMix is a project focused on finding solutions of social inclusion and development, with a view to empower communities, groups and individuals, through initiatives for creating entrepreneurship models, using the Design and Operative Experience as tools for social innovation and sustainability.

When we visited ReMix, you mentioned the way you find your designers and workers in the quarter. Please describe it again. If some of them were unemployed for a long time, how did you motivate them?

In the Eco-design workplace (Bairro do Armador) the team consists of 5 fix people, locals, with technical skills in different areas, long-term unemployed, and a group of more or less 60 people, helping and give their experience. The experience that has been desenvolved allowed their knowledge to be stronger, as well as working with professional designers, who occasionally collaborate with the project, the creation of designer pieces.

Please introduce your team and share how have you met them? Do people from minorities work for the ReMix? What did they achieve by now?

300 residents who signed up in activity, only 5 were selected in the first fase. Over the past two (almost three) years, the team managed to transcend naturally frontiersmen as an example of good practice of social innovation in areas such as civic participation, entrepreneurship and sustainability. Now, between Anonimous Citizens, Workers, Hancrafters, Designers, Managers, Consultants, Universities, Stores and sales places, we have arround 2000 people envolved.

How many people work for ReMix?

3 coordinators and 30 payed workers/designers/managers. Also the 10 Entremundos Association (in english is Between Worlds Association) volunteers.

Do you organize workshops? What was the last training?

The intervention Remix is allowed the promotion of social design workshops, devoted to the dissemination of the concept of the project and training other public.