MAAT wins Best Museum Architecture of the Year

The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), in Lisbon, has won the Best Museum Architecture of the Year category in the Leading Culture Destinations Awards – known as “The Oscars for Museums”. The winners were announced on Friday 29 September at the new Trafalgar St. James Hotel, London. 

The LCD Award winners were chosen by a jury of nine established cultural gurus. The scheme, now in its fourth year, celebrates museums and cities for their dedication to cultural vitality with winners chosen based on the quality and reach of their contributions to the international cultural sphere. The awards recognise institutions, organisations, and cities that have provided exemplary contributions to local cultural life and showcase emerging destinations. 

“We feel very proud and honoured to be awarded Museum Architecture of the Year. MAAT is a true landmark in Lisbon that attracts people from all over the world who come here to enjoy art, architecture and panoramic views along the Tagus estuary. MAAT has greatly contributed to the once neglected riverfront becoming a vibrant new cultural destination. This prize also comes as a joyful celebration for our first-year anniversary on October", says Miguel Coutinho, General Manager of EDP Foundation. 

The new MAAT kunsthalle was designed by AL_A, the architecture practice headed by British architect Amanda Levete. The building, which contains four distinct gallery spaces, captures the essence of the exceptional 38,0000 m2 riverside site and its extraordinary light. Blending structure into landscape, and creating significant new public spaces, it is designed to allow visitors to walk over and under it, as well as though the building, while the undulating roof offers panoramic views towards the river and across Belém. The building creates a constantly changing site filled with aquatic reflections that interplay with the overhanging façade covered with 15,000 three-dimensional tiles, a reference to Portugal’s rich ceramics tradition. 

Speaking about the Award, Amanda Levete, form AL_A, commented: “We’re thrilled that MAAT has been recognised by the Leading Cultural Destination Awards. The vision for MAAT sees the museum as an urban project as much as a cultural one, a place of exchange for all citizens and visitors, where public spaces and galleries are both hugely important. Since it opened last October, it has been fantastic to see MAAT being so quickly taken to the hearts of Lisboetas and already a much loved destination on the waterfront.”