MAAT - the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology

By the riverside in Lisbon you can nowadays discern a white modern building that seems to fit in perfectly with it's older surroundings. I am usually not a fan of modern architecture, I almost never swoon over something younger than Art Noveau, but in this case I shall admit that they have managed to do something beautiful with modern building techniques. The building is the new museum called MAAT. A museum with temporary exhibitions regarding art, architecture and technology. It was built by the EDP Foundation (Energias de Portugal) in 2016. The architect firm responsible for the building was AL_A (Amanda Levete Architects) from London and the exterior landscape project by the Lebanese architect Vladimir Djurovic.

The MAAT lies in the Belém area of Lisbon, just by the riverside, close to where the Tejo river meets the sea. The view from there is breathtaking, especially during sunsets or if you want to catch a photo of the 25th of April bridge which looks almost like the Golden Gate bridge. Buy a Pastel de Belém and eat it at the waterfront. You can walk up on the building itself to properly enjoy the view from a higher standing point. So I'll definitely give it a 5 out of 5 points for the positioning. Just next to it lies an old thermal power station made out of red bricks in 1908. This awesome old building once supplied the whole Lisbon area with electric power. Nowadays it is being used as an Electricity Museum where you can learn about the evolution of electricity.

How to describe the shape of the building? Organic, smooth, well incorporated, like a white wave structure. You can go beside it, inside it, through it, under it and over it. It really connects the routes whatever direction you are coming from and wherever you want to go next. They used a lot of white tiles, and being in Portugal, tiles can never go wrong! It is also easily enjoyed if you have a stroller or a wheelchair etc since you don't depend solely on stairs.

The exhibitions themselves, I'd say they are worth a shot if you love modern takes on architectural trends, environmental challenges and upcoming technologies. If not, then just enjoy the building from the outside, that is for free. I think most of you will admit that it is a feature that slips perfectly well into the city's riverside walk and melts together with the old neighbourhood of Belém.

https://www.maat.pt/en

https://www.fundacaoedp.pt/pt