The following description is courtesy of AL_A.
Lisbon, Portugal – MAAT, the new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, is an outward-looking museum located on the banks of the Tagus in Belém, the district from where the Portuguese great explorers set off.
Proposing a new relationship with the river and the wider world, the kunsthalle is a powerful yet sensitive and low-slung building that explores the convergence of contemporary art, architecture and technology.
The new building is the centrepiece of EDP Foundation’s masterplan for an art campus that includes the repurposed Central Tejo power station.
Incorporating over 9,000m² of new public space and blending structure into landscape, the kunsthalle is designed to allow visitors to walk over, under and through the building that sits beneath a gently expressed arch.
During the first year of opening, MAAT welcomed over 500,000 visitors, making it more popular than any public Portuguese museum.
Project Details
- Client: Fundação Engergias de Portugal (EDP)
- Programme: Museum including exhibition spaces, public spaces and cafe
- Area: 9,430m²
- Status: Completed
- Architects: AL_A
- Local Architects: Aires Mateus
- Prizes: Design Prize 2017; Shortlist EU Mies van der Rohe Prize 2017; Winner Architecture Best of Best Iconic Award 2017; Finalist World Architecture Festival 2017; ECCS Steel Design Award of Merit 2017; Highly Commended, Blueprint Awards 2017; finalist, Tiles of Spain Awards 2017; Honorable Mention, Valmor Prize and Municipal Architecture 2017; Best Museum Architecture, Leading Cultural Destination Awards 2017; Supreme Winner and Public Building category Winner, Surface Design Awards 2018
