Where Art Meets Waste
From discarded materials to giant animals, Bordalo II has turned waste into some of Lisbon’s most surprising works of art.
Lisbon has no shortage of street art. But few artists have changed the way we look at the city’s discarded objects quite like Bordalo II.
Born in Lisbon, Artur Bordalo — known as Bordalo II — creates animals from materials that would otherwise be thrown away: pieces of cars, plastic containers, metal, old appliances and countless other objects. His animals may look playful from a distance, but there is always something unsettling about them. The materials used to create them are, after all, the very waste that threatens the natural world they represent.
This is the idea behind his Big Trash Animals and many of his other works: the animal becomes a reminder of what our consumption leaves behind.
And Lisbon is one of the best places to discover this work.
The animals of Bordalo II
Bordalo II’s animals are not simply sculptures of wildlife.
Look closely to this wall in Alfama and the materials begin to reveal themselves: pieces of plastic, metal, machinery, car parts and other objects that have been discarded by modern society.
This is what makes his work so immediately recognisable. From a distance, the animal comes first. As you get closer, the rubbish becomes visible.
The contrast is deliberate.
Bordalo II has described the way our society has evolved as negative in many respects, particularly because of the enormous amount of waste it produces. His animals give that waste a new life — while reminding us where it came from.
The Koala and the Unicorn Factory
One of Bordalo II’s most intriguing animals in Lisbon is a koala belonging to his Evilution series.
The location is almost as curious as the animal itself.
The work can be found in the area of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, a modern hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. The name alone is enough to make you stop and wonder: what exactly is a Unicorn Factory doing in Lisbon?
The answer is very much part of contemporary Lisbon — a city that has been reinventing old industrial areas and building new spaces around startups, innovation and creativity.
And there, unexpectedly, is Bordalo II’s koala.
The work belongs to the same Evilution universe as the panda at Portas do Sol. The name itself is a play on evolution and evil, reflecting Bordalo II’s criticism of an evolution that does not necessarily mean progress when it comes to the way humanity consumes resources and produces waste.
The koala is therefore more than an attractive piece of street art.
It is an animal from nature, made from the remains of our increasingly urban and industrial world, standing in a place dedicated to creating the future.
That contrast feels very Bordalo II.
Chicks of Hope at the IPO
Perhaps the most unexpected Bordalo II work in Lisbon can be found at the IPO Lisboa — the Portuguese Institute of Oncology.
The subject is simple: a hen and her chicks.
But the story behind them gives the work a very particular meaning.
Chickens and roosters have long been a familiar presence within the hospital grounds. For many people who come to the hospital from rural areas, they are also a familiar reminder of everyday life outside the hospital.
Bordalo II transformed that presence into art.
Created to mark the IPO’s centenary, the work — known as Chicks of Hope — depicts birds assembled from discarded materials. In keeping with Bordalo II’s practice, the waste is not hidden inside the artwork: it remains visible, becoming part of the animals themselves.
There is an especially powerful connection between the work and its location.
A hospital is a place associated with illness and treatment. The young birds, on the other hand, suggest life, renewal and continuity.
And here Bordalo II’s familiar idea acquires another dimension.
Waste becomes art.
Art becomes an animal.
And the animal becomes a symbol of life and hope.
The Iberian Lynx at Parque das Nações
For sheer scale, few Bordalo II works in Lisbon can compete with the Iberian Lynx at Parque das Nações.
The enormous sculpture appeared in the area in 2019, in connection with Lisboa+21, an international conference focused on youth and sustainable development.
And it is difficult to miss.
Built from discarded materials, the sculpture transforms an accumulation of apparently useless objects into the image of one of the Iberian Peninsula’s most emblematic wild animals.
The contrast is deliberate: waste, one of the products of modern consumption, is used to represent wildlife that needs protection.
The location is also significant.
Parque das Nações is one of the most contemporary parts of Lisbon, built around the former Expo ’98 site. Here, Bordalo II’s work feels entirely at home: a sculpture made from the remains of modern consumer society standing in the middle of one of the city’s most modern urban landscapes.
The scale of the lynx only becomes apparent when you stand beside it.
And that is one of the things photographs don’t quite capture.
Two Pelicans in the Heart of Lisbon
Back in the historic centre, another pair of animals appears in a completely different setting.
Bordalo II’s two pelicans occupy a wall on Rua do Carmo, beside the Santa Justa Lift.
The choice of animal was not accidental.
The building belongs to Montepio, whose symbol is a pelican, making the birds particularly appropriate for their location.
And once again, Bordalo II turns discarded materials into something that seems almost alive.
The pelicans are very different from the giant lynx in Parque das Nações or the koala near Unicorn Factory. They are integrated into the historic city, surrounded by some of Lisbon’s most visited streets and monuments.
It is an unexpected encounter: centuries-old Lisbon on one side, and an animal assembled from the remains of modern consumption on the other.
Perhaps that is one of the pleasures of discovering Bordalo II in Lisbon.
You never quite know where the next animal will appear.
When street art disappears
There is another story to tell about Bordalo II’s animals in Lisbon.
Not all of them are still there.
The fox that once stood in the Santos area has disappeared.
Its absence provides an important reminder about the nature of urban art. Unlike a painting in a museum or a sculpture in a permanent collection, a mural or installation in the street is often dependent on the building and the space where it was created.
When the city changes, the artwork may disappear with it.
This is one reason why photographing street art matters.
Some works survive on walls for decades. Others survive only in photographs and in the memories of the people who saw them.
Bordalo II’s Lisbon is therefore constantly changing.
Bordalo II: turning waste into a story
There is a reason Bordalo II’s animals attract so much attention.
They are visually spectacular, but their message is difficult to ignore.
A discarded object is rarely just a discarded object. It has already been produced, consumed and eventually abandoned. Bordalo II takes that final stage of its life and gives it another purpose.
A piece of metal becomes fur.
A plastic object becomes a feather.
A broken machine becomes part of an eye.
And a pile of rubbish becomes an animal looking back at us.
That may be the most interesting thing about discovering Bordalo II around Lisbon: once you know how his animals are made, you start looking at the city’s waste differently.
And perhaps that is exactly what the artist wants.
Lisbon’s streets are full of stories. Some are carved in stone. Others are assembled from what the city throws away.
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