EMERGENCY CORD
Casa Branca · Sep 2025 — Dec 2027
public art, participatory landscape design and environmental regenerationa project included in the Évora_27 European Capital of Culture bid book
On 7 December 2022, Évora_27 was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture. Under the motto “VAGAR, another art of existence,” Évora_27 proposes a new paradigm for the world, grounded in respect for the value of time and based on essential European principles: the defence of peace, democracy, diversity, and ecological sustainability.
There are moments when it is necessary to stop — to listen, understand, and reimagine the place we inhabit.
Responding to the urgency of rethinking the relationship between public space, art, and ecology, Emergency Cord proposes “braking” as a collective gesture of awareness, resistance, and care.
Inspired by the device that halts a train in time to prevent disaster, the project calls for a slowdown and a renewed reflection on cooperation and reconnection with territory, community, time, art, and nature.
Developed over 28 months, Emergency Cord is a public space regeneration project in Casa Branca that combines public art, participatory landscape design, and environmental regeneration. It actively involves Oficinas do Convento, CRU Atelier, MARCA ADL, and US_Unlock Studio.
Emergency Cord proposes a rethinking of the relationship between public space, art, and ecology, creating a route that connects sites of listening, prototyping, and experimentation with possible futures, while establishing a biotic corridor where humans and non-humans can coexist.
Emergency Cord runs from September 2025 until the end of 2027, with its inauguration scheduled for March 2027. It represents another step in the ongoing process of regeneration and revitalisation of the former railway workers’ neighbourhood of Casa Branca that Estação Cooperativa has been developing — in service of the village and of all those who inhabit it, whether permanently or temporarily.
three phases of the project
LISTENING___UNDERSTANDINGTRAINING, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND DIAGNOSIS IN THE VILLAGE
This phase is dedicated to community involvement, contextual mapping, and the identification of needs and opportunities for spatial transformation.
It includes team capacity-building, public knowledge-sharing, and close-range creative exchange experiences.
CREATING___ TRANSFORMINGCO-DESIGN AND CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION OF SPACE
Co-design with community participation in the construction and personalisation of the village spaces, hosting creative practices in architecture, design and site-specific art, as well as interventions along the route, rewilding, and landscape design.
Environmental awareness actions and public sharing of knowledge and working processes.
CELEBRATING___SHARINGOPENING OF THE GREEN CORRIDOR AND OPEN-AIR GALLERY
Inauguration of the renewed space and rewilded route, featuring an open-air gallery.
Launch of a public community programme that fosters the relationship between art and nature, immersion, encounter, and celebration.
who are we?
Emergency Cord reflects the multidisciplinary nature of Estação Cooperativa and the strength of its partner ecosystem. Rooted in the potential of collective intelligence and collaboration, the project is built in a shared way, where each entity contributes its own perspective, knowledge, and practice.
Design, conception and project coordination
︎︎︎ Estação Cooperativa / Board of Directors: Alexandra Libânio, Tiago Fróis -Oficinas do Convento-, Manuel Correia da Silva, Amândio Anastácio -Alma d’Arame-, Luísa Homem
Artistic curatorship
︎︎︎ Oficinas do Convento - Tiago Fróis
Masterclass curatorship
︎︎︎ Alexandra Libânio
General executive coordination, financial and administrative management
︎︎︎ Alexandra Libânio
Environmental diagnosis; coordination of community engagement and diagnostic processes; design, intervention and ecological maintenance; environmental awareness
︎︎︎ MARCA ADL - Rosa Coelho
Physical and infrastructural diagnosis; technical design and development of the landscape, artistic and environmental masterplan; support for construction works
︎︎︎ CRU Atelier - Tânia Teixeira
Participatory urbanism training
︎︎︎ Rés-do-Chão
Artistic proximity experiences
︎︎︎ Bruno Lavos _ Atelier SER; Renata Bueno; Oficinas do Convento;
Artist in residencies – infrastructure for public space interventions
︎︎︎ CanyaViva; Miguel Magalhães e Nuno Vasconcelos
Artist in residencies – public art and site-specific installations
︎︎︎ Ana Almeida e Pinto; Maja Escher; Muro Atelier; Verónica Conte
University partnerships
︎︎︎ Studio BASEhabitat; Universidade de Évora
Masterclass
︎︎︎ 2025: Domenico di Siena (IT/ES); 2026 and 2027 to be confirmed
Support
︎︎︎ Municipality of Montemor-o-Novo; Parish Council of Santiago do Escoural; Oficinas do Convento; Arteria_Lab / University of Évora; Associação Recreativa de Casa Branca
Design & Communication · Editorial coordination
︎︎︎ US_Unlock Studio
Comunidade de ativação criativa e experimental do antigo bairro ferroviário da aldeia de Casa Branca, concelho de Montemor-o-Novo....
Estação Cooperativa CRL
Largo 1º de Maio 4, Casa Branca
Montemor-o-Novo - Portugal
︎ info@estacaocooperativa.pt
︎ +351 933 210 285
Estação Cooperativa CRL
Largo 1º de Maio 4, Casa Branca
Montemor-o-Novo - Portugal
︎ info@estacaocooperativa.pt
︎ +351 933 210 285