published in l'Arca International n. 134
MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal, project: A_LA Amanda Levete Architects
Principal: Amanda Levete; Local Architects: Aires Mateus & Associados; Civil, Structural & Building Services Engineering: Afaconsult; Landscaping: Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture; Project Director: Maximiliano Arrocet; Restaurant and Shop Lighting: SEAM Design; Site Supervision: Technoplana; LEED Consultant: Edifícios Saudáveis; Main Contractor: Alves Ribeiro; Sub Contractors: Ceràmica Cumella, Disset. Photos: Hufton+Crow, Fernando Guerra, Francisco Nogueira, Paulo Coelho/Courtesy EDP Foundation
The new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology opened last October on the Tagus River in Belém, Lisbon. Housed within two buildings and spanning a vast outdoor site, MAAT will explore contemporary culture through visual arts, new media, architecture, technology and science.
The complex comprises the new museum designed by AL_A, Amanda Levete, and the recently renovated Central Tejo power station. The new museum complex is located on the EDP Foundation Campus, which is at the heart of an important urban revitalization.
The building, which contains four distinct gallery spaces, is designed to allow visitors to walk over and under, as well as through the building, while the undulating roof offers panoramic views towards the river and across Belém.
The building creates a constantly changing place filled with aquatic reflections that interplay with the overhanging façade covered in 15,000 three-dimensional tiles, a reference to Portugal’s rich tradition of ceramics.
Following this inauguration, a second phase of the project is set to launch in March 2017 with the opening of a pedestrian bridge, also designed by AL_A, that lands on the museum roof, making the campus and waterfront more accessible to the city.
Committed to creating an environment in which diverse audiences can access contemporary art through educational programs and special events, the EDP Foundation’s new museum will be a space for discovery, critical thinking and international dialogue with its unique heritage, an expanding Portuguese art collection and an innovative exhibition programme.
