Hello friends, here I am again with another walking post. Last year we were in Lisbon, in the Belém district. Belém is a historic neighborhood, yet despite this, it is full of interesting and striking examples of contemporary architecture. This place is hundreds of years old and an extremely important historical area. The Jerónimos Monastery here is very old and very significant. Portuguese explorers set out from exactly this point, opened up to different countries, discovered Brazil, reached India and traveled as far as the most distant parts of Asia. Today this district has almost become the showcase of the entire country, of all Portugal. At some point, everyone who came to power in Portugal wanted to say something through architecture here and to build an important structure. This competition is still going on today.
We started our walk at the Belém Cultural Center. This is a massive and very important building. It is almost a city in itself. Visually, it really does resemble a city. It has its own streets and its own buildings, with a very complex structure. An international competition was opened for the construction of this building. Many projects were submitted and in the end the project by an Italian architect named Vittorio Gregotti was selected. This architect had managed to carry out large and important commercial projects from time to time. Here too, he came out on top and built the Cultural Center.
When it was first built, architects in particular were quite concerned. Right next to it stands the Jerónimos Monastery, a real jewel both architecturally and culturally. When such a massive box, almost a city, appeared beside it, it seemed to overpower the monastery. No one liked this at first, but over time, as always, everyone got used to it. Recently you may have noticed this as well, architecture is no longer just architecture. In the 20th century, architects were almost like gods. Today everything is tied to rules, architects write their memoirs and slowly withdraw from the business world. Still, they do not want to lose their position. Architecture has become a way of thinking, an art form, even a tool for seeking solutions to social problems.
On this walk I want to talk not only about buildings but also about life. For example, we passed by the place that sells the best ice cream in Lisbon. All the schoolchildren come here before and after classes to eat amazing Italian gelato.
We moved on to the main square of the Cultural Center, because this is not just a single building, it really is a city. Many events are held in this large square. Famous contemporary architects are often invited and special stage designs are created for this space. On one side there is a museum with the best collection of modern art in Portugal. From Picasso to Niki de Saint Phalle to Andy Warhol, many artists are represented here. If you are looking for culture, you should come here. When you step inside, you encounter another city. Cafes, shops, bookstores, conference halls, a theater, a modern art museum, everything related to culture is here.
There is also a section called the South Garage. Today it is an architecture center and the School of Architectural Thinking is located here. It used to be just a parking garage. The image of this building has always made me think. When you are inside, everything feels a bit dry, a bit barren, until you see old cities in Morocco or Yemen. In fact, it is very similar. It feels like a 20th century reinterpretation of the architecture of the Age of Discoveries. It has its own towers and streets, with a desert-like, perhaps Asian, perhaps African, definitely colonial city atmosphere.
There are gardens inside and around the building. Some are below ground level, some above it and there are even vertical gardens. It looks almost like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We came across an olive grove at the height of a third floor. The olive trees here are not young, they are quite old. Old olive trees inside a modern building.
Belém is not only the official showcase of Portugal, it is also a major cultural hub. Here you find the Cultural Center, the Coach Museum, the Jerónimos Monastery, the Museum of Folk Art, the museum where royal treasures are displayed and the Belém Tower, which is hundreds of years old and related to the Age of Discoveries. This tower was a gateway to the ocean. Behind it lay an endless and dangerous sea.
Every era and every power wanted to leave a mark here. The Salazar period is included in this as well. Salazar wanted to remind people that Portugal once ruled the world. He left a strong mark in Belém. His most famous work is the Monument of the Discoveries. It was first built as a temporary structure, then demolished and later rebuilt. Even today, not everyone has fully accepted this monument. It is seen as a symbol of dictatorship, yet it still stands there.
Later we moved to a pergola. This is not just a pergola, it is called a living sculpture. It is alive, completely covered with climbing plants. It is at its best in spring when it blooms. It blocks the heat and is wonderful for resting. Over time, the Cultural Center has been swallowing the surrounding areas as well. The South Garage, which was once just a parking lot, now hosts architecture exhibitions, symposiums and the School of Architectural Thinking.
The Age of Discoveries also created a unique architectural style called Manueline. On the facades you see plant motifs, ropes, anchors, elephants, rhinoceroses, elements related to discoveries. We entered a small garden next to the Jerónimos Monastery. Here, the living versions of the plants carved into the stone facades are growing.
Then we passed by the Presidential Palace. In a country that has experienced dictatorship, seeing the head of state so closely integrated with the public is really nice. This is a summer residence. The first democratic president after Salazar lived here, but later no one chose to do so. Today it is used only for official meetings.
As for the Coach Museum, it is genuinely impressive. It has enormous columns. This building was designed by the Pritzker Prize winning Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. He built it in 2015, in the later period of his career. It is very different from his early works, with a harsher, more brutalist approach. But this does not make it better or worse, it simply makes it Rocha. Rocha always spoke more about life than about stones. He cared about how people live and how they feel. Today’s architecture is also moving in this direction, helping people and improving life.
The museum building had to be very large because it houses one of the largest historic carriage collections in the world. Rocha tried to place this massive volume in a way that respects the surrounding historical fabric. The administrative building is pink, which feels like a greeting to the nearby historic structures. There is a pool on the roof, but it cannot be seen from the outside. Rocha loved the idea of buildings floating in the air. Here he experimented with this by supporting a huge mass with very few columns. On the main facade there are only three large columns. The goal was to make something enormous appear light.
When you look from the opposite shore, no building really manages to fully hold this coastline. The ones that truly succeed are the red bridge and the statue of Christ. Their scale fits the environment perfectly.
Finally, we went to MAAT, the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. The building is placed very elegantly. The idea of a wave may be simple, but it works well here. The facade is completely covered with ceramic tiles called azulejo, but the scale and form are different from the usual. Everything is white, a beautiful reference to local culture. The building was designed by the British architect Amanda Levete. She created a very important building for Portugal.
The roof itself is a landscape. The view is wonderful. Interestingly, there is a bridge here by a British architect and before that we crossed a bridge by the Brazilian Rocha. Everyone created a bridge in their own style.
In short, in Belém you have the contemporary Cultural Center and the Coach Museum, the imperial era Jerónimos Monastery in the middle, a dictatorship monument and today’s institutional buildings. You decide who is stronger and who is more impressive. See you soon.