WELTSTADT

A rabbit slaugterhouse transforms into a FabLab © Jürgen Willinghöfer

by Jürgen Willinghöfer, Weltstadt Correspondent in Lisbon

No consumer potential here. The old customers have either passed on, or go to Lidl next door, which is open from 9 AM until 9 PM. Here, in the market hall, the customary business hours are from 5 AM until 1 PM; from early in the morning when the fresh fish is delivered, until midday when the poor things get tired and only want to smoke or feed the pigeons. Even as early as ten in the morning, yawning emptiness prevails throughout the entire hall. Scarcely any stand is still displaying merchandise, but in all likelihood there weren’t all that many more, earlier in the morning. In the evening, an old woman feeds hundreds of pigeons and refuses to leave. Of Lisbon’s formerly 30 or 40 markets, fewer and fewer are still in existence. A few are managing the shift to specialized delicatessen markets, but most simply disappear.

A designer trained in Amsterdam who runs a FabLab for the City of Lisbon in one of the annexes, shows us all the things that can be done with vacant spaces. Converted machines of recent date stand there in an old rabbit slaughterhouse. The sign with the rabbits arranged as a triskel is aptly chosen, after all, the place is a market based on mutuality; where machines and infrastructure are used that would be far too expensive for individuals. From a 3-D printer to a laser cutter, CNC router and desktop miller machine and vinyl cutter; everything is available for use in the FabLab and solve unknown problems together, as the designer explains. “Do it yourself!” – the old slaughter floors were only minimally renovated: toilets, a couple of doors and the lighting were installed, everything else will develop more or less ad hoc. There’s no money for anything else, either. The fact that in the evening, the old woman isn’t feeding the pigeons, but instead wine and sandwiches are being served to the We-Traders’ Forum from a pátio ambulante, a converted Mercedes truck from the Gerhardsried fire department, is perhaps a sign of change. Perhaps triple-rabbit production potential is emerging here!