The refurbishment of the Gulbenkian Museum

On this tour, the architect Teresa Nunes da Ponte guides us through the intervention that reconciled the technical and museographic modernisation of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum with the rediscovery and enhancement of the spatial, constructional and landscape qualities of the original 1969 design. “ The space recovers the harmony of the original design, strengthening the dialogue between art, architecture and nature that has always set it apart .” A far-reaching yet discreet intervention, which set out to recover the vision of the building’s authors and to reaffirm the unique bond between architecture, collection and landscape that makes this museum an international reference. Along the way we will consider the main architectural choices behind the refurbishment, from the recovery of original materials, atmospheres and vistas to the closer relationship between the galleries and the garden. An opportunity to understand how architecture can preserve the memory of a place while reinterpreting it to meet the challenges of the present and the future.