Déjà vu is a photographic series examining cycles of urban transformation through the regeneration of Praça Martim Moniz, a public square in Lisbon’s Mouraria quarter. In 2012, the square underwent an intensive urban makeover that converted its center into an open-air ethnic food court. The privatization of this public space was justified as a remedy for the praça’s perceived decay—a decline historically attributed to the immigrant communities who occupied and used the space.
Six years later, a new regeneration project emerged, this time replacing the existing kiosks with cargo containers to create additional commercial spaces within the square’s perimeter. Remarkably, the arguments advanced by the municipality and private developers mirrored those deployed six years earlier—a recurrence that gives this series its title.
