As art continues to find new mediums of expression, the traditional museum contained within four walls faces limitations in the evolving ways art can be—and perhaps should be—experienced. The experience still woefully and rigidly separates the insides from the outdoors. One of the ways it could be done is by integrating nature into the very experience of a museum, but can it become a part of its holistic mien, or would it remain as mere ornamentation supporting the built?

A consideration of this enquiry materialises within Japanese architect Kengo Kuma & Associates’ (KKAA) extension to the Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM) Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal, where the divide between architecture and nature is bridged, blurring the indoor-outdoor distinction, making the transition experientially seamless. The collaborative effort by KKAA, Buro Happold (structural engineering), Oporto Office for Design and Architecture (OODA) and Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture (VDLA) highlights a sensitive approach towards historically relevant buildings as the additions are mindfully designed to enhance—not alter—the spatial experience of CAM Gulbenkian, which re-opened late last year after an extensive reimagining. 

The Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, originally designed in 1983 by English architect Leslie Martin, is part of a modernist complex of buildings in Lisbon that houses the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s headquarters, the Gulbenkian Museum and an Art Library. The Foundation’s head office and museum were inaugurated in 1969 to house Calouste Gulbenkian’s art collection assembled over four decades. The Foundation’s official website states that the campus was built on the premise of serving “a perpetual homage to the memory of Calouste Gulbenkian, with its lines reflecting the essential features of his character – spiritual concentration, creative energy and simplicity in life”.

The complex was classified as a ‘national monument’ in 2010, the first contemporary work to be a part of the Portuguese national heritage. The art and culture centre was envisioned to be a site where the work of emerging artists in all forms was to be presented. However, the website also mentions that the most ‘beautiful’ views (of the garden) were spoiled by the CAM’s construction.

With this context, Kengo Kuma's extensive re-imagination of the building (also Kuma’s first completed project in Portugal) became crucial in expanding upon the foundation’s original ambition to merge the experience of nature and art through its numerous tall picture windows. The Japanese architecture and design firm aimed to highlight the structure’s beauty by exposing it via minimal interventions while creating seamless sightlines to the gardens from all sides. The office and bookstore were relocated, opening up the walls of previously enclosed spaces, channelling light into the lobby and transforming the CAM into a more open, transient and intermediary space between the two gardens—weaving it in for a heightened immersive experience of the entire complex.

A canopy inspired by Engawa

The rework goes beyond merely providing or enhancing visual connections; it ties in a holistic experience of art and nature through the built form itself. The Japanese concept of Engawa—a walkway sheltered under eaves, considered neither inside nor outside in traditional Japanese houses, expands the threshold, granting the transient space informal utility. While the open-air Engawa adorns the CAM, it structurally stands as an individual entity, cascading from the facade’s top height into a low ceiling—transforming the identity of the otherwise intimidating form into a welcoming space. The low height of the porch or the Engawa’s ceiling enables a sense of comfort for users while also imbuing curiosity within users by narrowing the line of sight, an embodiment of the threshold itself.

The project’s official description relays, “By opening new pathways and lowering the old surrounding walls around the garden, the design strengthens the connection between the garden and the city of Lisbon. This approach invites the public to move freely through the garden to the museum, establishing an ongoing dialogue between art, nature and urban fabric.”

A ‘floating’ roof in pursuit of simplicity

The roof’s design, one of the most significant features of the extension, extends conflicting traits such as visually colossal forms supported by slender supports, and its unequivocally warm wooden ceiling juxtaposing with the white, hand-crafted porcelain tiles. Engineered by Buro Happold, the 100-metre long and 15-metre wide freestanding canopy consists of a gently curving rigid plate supported by two rows of columns. The impression of a ‘floating’ roof was achieved by using thin, steel-blade columns designed and paired to form a V-shape. The front row of the short V-shaped columns allows the slim columns to sway and move freely, providing stability in both directions.

Florian Foerster, associate director at Buro Happold, expounds, “The engineering of the roof was an exercise in the pursuit of simplicity. The aim was to achieve a slender, minimal structure that gives the impression of a curved floating plate. The roof is a key element in the formal and poetic dialogue between the existing, refurbished museum building and the newly landscaped park.’ A new gallery was also added directly beneath the Engawa, expanding the museum’s capacity to display more of Gulbenkian’s extensive art collection and support the new collaborations with the artists.

The landscape architecture, led by VDLA, expands on the vision of blending the museum experience with nature by transforming its grounds into an immersive urban forest. VDLA created a play of densification by adding varying concentrations of greenery and creating meandering pathways that lead the visitors into a series of surprises—clearings, meadows, rain gardens and small pavilions, all serving as nurseries. When originally built in the sixties by Goncalo Ribeiro Telles and Antonio Viana Barreto, it was acknowledged as one of Portugal’s most iconic modern gardens. It broke from the global trends of the era with its subtle geometries instead of rigid structures of paths and flowerbeds.

Landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic, principal at VDLA, expressed, “When I first visited the Gulbenkian Foundation garden, I could not understand why such a gem was not internationally renowned. It is a landscape design masterpiece. The expansion of the Gulbenkian Garden proposes a seamless extension to the exceptional landscape designed by Goncalo Ribeiro Telles and Antonio Viana Barreto, continuing their strategy of establishing a model for rewilding our urban grounds with native species. The project develops and implements characteristic local ecologies, starting a process that ultimately aims to transform a typical ornamental garden into an autochthonous natural environment. We need to reconsider our relationship with nature, challenging the current anthropocentric urban model and bringing nature back into our cities.”

The landscape design opens up as an urban forest to the city, defining a new experience leading to the CAM. Djurovic believes that the new urban space at Marques de Fronteira will radically transform the part of the city where the Gulbenkian foundation lies. Even as KKAA’s philosophies—contextually rooted and shaped in Japan—brought a varied influence to the project, the non-invasive approach instilled a new life in the modernist national heritage of the Gulbenkian complex.

Project Details

Name: Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Landscape Architect: VDLA
Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
Year of Completion: 2024