MAAT — Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology

On Lisbon’s waterfront in Belem, MAAT brings together art, architecture and technology under one roof. The museum occupies two very different buildings, a restored early twentieth-century power station and a low, wave-like contemporary gallery, linked by a garden that runs along the River Tagus.

Two buildings, one museum

MAAT opened in October 2016 as part of the EDP Foundation’s long-running cultural programme. Its newer building, designed by the British architect Amanda Levete, is clad in Portuguese azulejo tiles and was conceived so that visitors can walk over, under and around it. The older building, Central Tejo, is a 1908 power station listed as a building of public interest, which first opened to the public as the Museum of Electricity in 1990.

What to see

• The two contrasting buildings and the riverside garden that connects them.
• The permanent display The Electricity Factory at Central Tejo, which explains how the power station once worked.
• A changing programme of exhibitions on contemporary art, architecture and technology.
• Sculptures in the outdoor spaces, with views across the Tagus.

Visiting MAAT

MAAT is at Avenida de Brasilia, Belem, 1300-598 Lisbon. It is open Wednesday to Monday from 10:00 to 19:00, and is closed on Tuesdays, as well as on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. On 24 and 31 December it closes at 15:00.

Tickets and full visitor information: maat.pt.

Image credit: MAAT, Lisbon, by SIryn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. In Belém, the Museu Nacional dos Coches is the other royal collection of the quarter.