Room of the apartment 'Necessities' of the Baixa House
Lisbon is renewed in a calm and constant way , and the center of the city, that illuminated and musical chaos, shows over and over again a fresh face that recovers its beat. This is demonstrated by examples such as the MUDE design museum, the Museum of Popular Art, the Spirito Santo Foundation that rescues centuries-old craft traditions or the Baixa Pombalina that is reviving after years of abandonment.
María Ulecia, who has worked for a long time in the world of design, arrived in Lisbon a few years ago and was fascinated by this warm and welcoming city. “I always say that Lisbon caught me, and that's the reality, I can't imagine living in another city. In recent years we are experiencing a return to the center, the neighborhoods are reinventing themselves and thus Alfama has ceased to be that labyrinth for tourists and the elderly to become a place of residence and meeting place for young people with an average cultural level interested in recovering their roots.
The Bairro Alto has definitely become the center of nightlife with less and less commercial activity, and you can see how designers choose Santos or Principe Real and their surroundings. Some areas are gaining momentum, such as Mouraria, where every September the festival 'everyone', who wants to be a encounter between the cultures of the world that have settled in the area and give it its mestizo character , Alcántara, which seems to revive around LX Factory, or Mayor, thanks to the direct and personal intervention of José Costa, the mayor of Lisbon”
María directs several hotel projects, with her sights always set on the forefront of design for interiors and total comfort for details. One of her latest challenges is Baixa House , an 18th-century building in the Pombaline style, which was rehabilitated and converted into a group of apartments located in Baixa Lisbon, in the heart of the historic area.
Living room and kitchen of the 'Gulbenkian' apartment at the Baixa House
The important thing about these apartments/hotel is that you really feel at home. A 'home' in Lisbon where each room has the name of a garden in the city from which its decoration is inspired. In the interior design, the general white color stands out, incorporating numerous traditional elements of Portuguese craftsmanship, retro design pieces and other contemporary ones. There are always fresh flowers in the rooms and the breakfast served in each room includes delicious local sweets.
Baixa breathes a practically musical harmony, very similar to that of the city itself, which María likes to relate to 'modernized' Fado: “Lisboa is like the music of Rodrigo Leão: a traditional-style melody with an electronic base to which hints of classical appear, rock guitar chords mixed with the accordion, and all the saudade of fado”.
Other very interesting projects in the city are the Braço de Prata Factory, or Pavilhao 28, LX Factory, Carpe Diem, Teatro do Bairro, Projecto Travessa da Ermida or the most recent around Cais de Sodré: Revolver Platform, an industrial building dedicated to the development of contemporary art; and Pensão Amor , an old brothel in the port of Lisbon transformed into a multipurpose leisure center -erotic bookstore, cafe, cocktail bar, lingerie store, tapas bar- that maintains the essence of its past.
Living room of the 'Ajuda' apartment of the Baixa House