🏛️ Belém · West Lisbon
MAAT — Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia
Lisbon's boldest contemporary arts museum, floating on the Tagus riverbank.
About
MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) opened in 2016 with a striking new riverside building designed by AL_A architects — its undulating white form, clad in 15,000 hand-glazed ceramic tiles, seems to float on the Tagus at Belém. It is the most architecturally exciting building in modern Lisbon.
The museum occupies two interconnected buildings: the new riverside gallery and the restored Central Tejo power station, a vast industrial cathedral of turbines and generators. Together they host rotating exhibitions at the intersection of contemporary art, architecture, and new technologies.
The rooftop of the new building — reached via a sloping public walkway — offers one of the best free viewpoints in Lisbon, looking out across the river to the Cristo Rei statue.
Highlights
- ✓Award-winning riverside building by AL_A architects
- ✓Restored Central Tejo power station galleries
- ✓Free rooftop walkway with panoramic river views
- ✓Contemporary art, architecture, and technology exhibitions
- ✓15,000 hand-glazed ceramic tile facade
- ✓View of the 25 de Abril Bridge and Cristo Rei