Roundtable calls on public support to save downtown building

The “Rainha Dona Leonor” housing block (right)

A roundtable was held yesterday to discuss the future of the “Rainha Dona Leonor” housing block in downtown Macau (besides Hotel Sintra), which opponents of the government’s proposal to demolish say holds significant heritage value.

The speakers at the roundtable were lawmaker and chairwoman of Civil Power Agnes Lam, heritage enthusiast Billy Au and Rui Leao, president of Docomomo Macau Association, a group that claims to document and represent examples of modern architecture in Macau.

“The roundtable was about raising awareness,” said Leao, who is also an architect and a member of Macau’s Urban Planning Committee.

“We found out recently that the government was putting to discussion the urban guidelines for that plot, which will be discussed next Wednesday at the Urban Planning Committee meeting,” he told the Times in an interview yesterday.

“The government proposal is to have that building demolished – but that raises a lot of urban issues. […] The building is of very high heritage value and should have already been classified by the government and protected.”

The housing block, located on Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, is nearly 60 years old, having been designed in the late 1950s by the architect José Lei. The building was the first high-rise residential building in Macau equipped with an elevator.

According to those in favor of protecting the site, which is owned by the Holy House of Mercy, the building showcases the principles and ideals born with the advent of modernist architecture in the second half of the 20th century.

This week, Docomomo Macau Association will submit a request to the government to have the building listed.

However, Leao believes that it is important to gather public support for the listing of such sites – especially when, like the Rainha Dona Leonor” housing block, they are in a somewhat decrepit state.

Hence the roundtable was held to reach out to the public and raise awareness of the government’s proposal.

“It is difficult to request a listing on a purely technical basis,” he said. “The public needs to understand the value of such buildings, even if they are in a bland, run-down state. I hope that we were successful in delivering that message.” DB