The Bouça neighborhood, located in central Porto, stood as a pivotal project in Álvaro Siza's career and was launched as part of SAAL - a rehousing public program created immediately after the Portuguese Revolution of 1974. The project was executed in two phases. The initial phase, completed in 1979 with 56 houses, targeted the inhabitants of nearby slums, predominantly comprising a working-class population. The subsequent phase, finalized in 2006, encompassed the construction of the remaining 72 houses and the revitalization of the neighborhood. This stage, organized as a housing cooperative where houses were purchased, catered to the middle class. Based on a mixed methodology this paper discusses the ways in which residents inhabit these houses, focusing on the uses and appropriations of spaces. The social origins of residents constitute the main differentiating factor, distinguishing between early settlers (who bet on a much greater personalisation of the house) and those who arrived during the second phase or even later. For the former, this house is a symbol of the successful struggle to achieve decent housing - the profound transformations carried out are the personal mark of this process of improvement in which architectural authorship, although valued, does not presuppose affinity. Among those who arrived later, there is a clear difference between architects and non-architects: these have very different ways of experiencing architectural authorship.

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