Museo Gulbenkian and other observations
I really like Portugal. It's a completely different feel than spain and I like it better. The food is better, the people are more friendly. I still haven't put my finger on exactly what it is that makes me like it more, maybe I'll have figured that out by the time I leave.
Lisbon is a very San Francisco type town. The owner of my hostel said it best he said. Lisbon and San Francisco are identical twins that grew up in seperate places. One was given the best education coddled and nurtured and the other (Lisboa) was in an orphanage, turned loose at 18 and is a little more jaded and street smart. Its a very good analogy. There are times when lisbon scares me but its a comfortable sort of scary. Hard to explain.
Yesterday I went to the Museo Gulbenkian here in lisbon. It is quite possibly the coolest building/gardens I have ever been in. The architects (portugese) were Alberto Pessoa, Pedro Cid and Ruy d'Athouguia. Constructed between 1961 and 1969 its form is very modular with concrete beams and columns and lots of glass. Wood infills between the beams give the interior a very warm feeling.
Each window is perfectly positioned with views to the surrounding gardens and all the roofs and canopies are green gardens themselves. The beams align with these windows to draw your eye to the exterior space. The whole theme to the design was connecting interior to exterior which I thought was so unique for a museum. So often museums are afraid of light and connection to the exterior I spent a while watching people as they went through the museum and most would turn a corner and pause as they were drawn out to the gardens. It was really cool.
The exterior gardens were just as cool with little concrete paver paths everywhere that would lead you to secret nooks and crannies of the gardens. When you reached the end, there would just be a bench in the middle of a circle of stones with bamboo around. Or copper seats, around pools that collect rain water. I spent the whole day there. Anyhow, enough raving about the architecture. Today I am going exploring in downtown, the bario alto and the old moorish quarter here, more later.
Lisbon is a very San Francisco type town. The owner of my hostel said it best he said. Lisbon and San Francisco are identical twins that grew up in seperate places. One was given the best education coddled and nurtured and the other (Lisboa) was in an orphanage, turned loose at 18 and is a little more jaded and street smart. Its a very good analogy. There are times when lisbon scares me but its a comfortable sort of scary. Hard to explain.
Yesterday I went to the Museo Gulbenkian here in lisbon. It is quite possibly the coolest building/gardens I have ever been in. The architects (portugese) were Alberto Pessoa, Pedro Cid and Ruy d'Athouguia. Constructed between 1961 and 1969 its form is very modular with concrete beams and columns and lots of glass. Wood infills between the beams give the interior a very warm feeling.
Each window is perfectly positioned with views to the surrounding gardens and all the roofs and canopies are green gardens themselves. The beams align with these windows to draw your eye to the exterior space. The whole theme to the design was connecting interior to exterior which I thought was so unique for a museum. So often museums are afraid of light and connection to the exterior I spent a while watching people as they went through the museum and most would turn a corner and pause as they were drawn out to the gardens. It was really cool.
The exterior gardens were just as cool with little concrete paver paths everywhere that would lead you to secret nooks and crannies of the gardens. When you reached the end, there would just be a bench in the middle of a circle of stones with bamboo around. Or copper seats, around pools that collect rain water. I spent the whole day there. Anyhow, enough raving about the architecture. Today I am going exploring in downtown, the bario alto and the old moorish quarter here, more later.
posted by mnlrs at 10:48 AM
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