An ambitious project, initiated by the EDP charitable foundation in 2011, involves the creation of an impressive cultural cluster right on the embankment of the Tagus River. The area of 3.8 hectares allotted for it is located almost at the very mouth of the river in the historical district of Belem, famous for its museums and architectural monuments. It is argued that it was from here that Portuguese sailors sailed on long expeditions, and today the new institution is designed to support the inclusion of the city and country in the global cultural context.
Due to its flattened, relief-like shape (vaguely reminiscent of the Heydar Aliyev Hadid Center, only somewhat … crushed), the new building literally grows out of the embankment, forming an open public area. Its stepped roof with fragments of landscaping during the day serves as a wonderful observation deck with views of the river and the city, and in the evening it becomes an open-air cinema. In total, the city receives 9,430 m2 of public spaces, including embankment steps (some of them even flood with water at high tide), their continuation under exhibition halls and a roof.
At the same time, respectful relations are being built with an important architectural monument of the first half of the 20th century - the neighboring brick complex of the former thermal power plant. In recent years, it housed the Electricity Museum, and now the reconstructed halls, some of which partially retained the equipment, have become part of the campus and host several significant international exhibitions at once: in one of the central interior rooms, for example, the work of Charles and Ray Eames is already presented. and in the courtyard there was an exposition of the Lisbon Architectural Triennial.
To restore the lost connection of the city with the water area has become almost the main goal of the architects of the AL_A bureau. Responsible for this is the undulating, overhanging facade of the new building, lined with 14,751 volumetric ceramic plates from the Ceràmica Cumella factory (here again you can recall Hadid, but the perfectly smooth surface in her performance in this case acquires angular, "crumpled" shapes). The finishing material, traditional for Portugal, is rethought and receives a modern solution: the tiles play in the sun, changing the image of the building depending on the time of day and weather. At the same time, it catches the light reflected from the water surface, then directing it into the interior.
The exhibition halls themselves (their total area is 2855 m2) naturally continue the smooth, viscous lines of the building and received complex curvilinear forms. Now only the first stage of construction has opened: the so-called "Oval Gallery", which houses an installation by the French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster called "Pynchon's Park: Utopia / Dystopia". The conceptual project is timed to coincide with the opening of the campus and was created specifically for this premises.
The opening of the remaining three halls of the new building, restaurant and shop is planned for March 2017: the total area of the new building will be 7400 m2. The second part of the Dominique Gonzalez-Förster exhibition will open at the same time. And by the beginning of the summer of 2017, a pedestrian bridge across the railroad, which cuts off an elongated section of the campus from the city, and a park (designed by the famous landscape architect from Lebanon Vladimir Dzhurovich) will be completed. And then, upon completion of all the work, the closest connection of the embankment and the river with the city will be revealed most fully.
