Lisbon's Ghost Phone Booths Get New Life: 3 Creative Proposals to Transform Urban Eyesores

Authentic "urban waste" - the old Portugal Telecom phone booths still exist scattered throughout the city, but a request is underway to have them "transformed."

Photos by © Hadrian, Shutterstock.com + © VizinhosEmLisboa

The Vizinhos em Lisboa Association, which previously proposed measures for old post office markers and more recently for the replacement of crowns in Parque Eduardo VII, is back in action with another measure that aims to give a "new life" to the old Portugal Telecom (PT) phone booths.

True relics of the past, it's still possible to find these "ghost booths" on some Lisbon streets, with most showing total abandonment and degradation.

© VizinhosEmLisboa

What's at Stake?

If you regularly walk through Lisbon, you've likely encountered these metal and glass structures (sometimes plastic), many of them vandalized and broken.

These old phone booths, widely used before the advent of mobile phones, are today authentic "scars" on the urban landscape, with visible signs of abandonment that contrast with the image of a capital that wants to be increasingly modern and vibrant.

Just like the old CTT post office markers, these PT phone booths are objects of urban nostalgia (who doesn't know these pieces?), but the truth is that today they represent a public space management problem, accumulating trash and such degradation that seriously harms Lisbon's image.

Phone booth in Lisbon | © Hadrian, Shutterstock.com

The "Neighbors'" Proposals

Considering some examples from our European neighbors, we know that it's possible to transform this problem into an opportunity to serve the entire surrounding community, as well as city visitors.

In the United Kingdom, just to give one example, the iconic red booths gained new creative forms and are now transformed into small libraries or phone charging points.

This is where, once again, the Vizinhos em Lisboa Residents Association comes in, which through a civic movement has already asked the Lisbon City Council and MEO (current responsible for these posts) for the urgent removal of these booths from Lisbon's streets, alleviating pedestrian pathways or, alternatively, that they be given another purpose, for example:

• Wi-Fi hotspots;
• Charging points for mobile phones or electronic equipment;
• Mini-libraries, as already happens with the reading booths in Parque das Nações.

@jfparquedasnacoes

We, who love our city like no one else, completely agree with these ideas that, if they come to fruition, will allow the requalification of this urban property, not only from an aesthetic point of view but, mainly, from a utility perspective, exchanging the current image of abandonment for innovative measures that, in fact, are useful for all citizens or tourists.

Reading booths is just one of the ideas presented by the Vizinhos em Lisboa Association.