Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian | Kengo Kuma and associates

CAM-Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian will reopen to the public on 20th September 2024 following an extensive reimagining led by acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, marking the architect’s first completed project in Portugal. Conceived by British architect Sir Leslie Martin, the original building opened in 1983 to house one of the world’s most significant collections of modern and contemporary Portuguese art. Currently undergoing a significant transformation, CAM is nestled within the verdant grounds of Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, a multi-disciplinary campus comprised of iconic 1960’s buildings immersed in an 18-acre woodland, the legacy of the prolific collector and philanthropist, Calouste Gulbenkian (1869 - 1955).

For CAM’s new iteration, Kengo Kuma’s contemporary transformation seamlessly connects the building with the surrounding gardens and city.

Defined by a 100-metre-long sweeping canopy, composed from ceramic tiles made in Portugal, the architecture and interiors have been conceived by Japanese architecture firm Kengo Kuma Associates. The building’s redesign by Kuma draws from the Engawa, a sheltered walkway typical of Japanese dwellings, considered neither totally inside nor outside. Incorporating this typology, the architecture has been integrated into the surrounding gardens of the Gulbenkian Foundation – a nod to Kuma’s vision for ‘soft and humane architecture’ and in response to CAM’s commitment to establish a greater connection between the building, the garden and the city. Accessed through a new entrance, the gardens have been extended to create a fluid and dense urban forest conceived by landscape designer Vladimir Djurovic. For CAM’s next chapter, design studio A Practice for Everyday Life has developed its new visual identity, inspired by the organic lines and sheltering nature of the Engawa and the building.

Director: Benjamin Weil Deputy Director: Ana Botella

Architecture: KKAA - Kengo Kuma Associate Architects (Principal in charge: Kengo Kuma) OODA - Oporto Office for Design and Architecture

Landscape Architecture: VDLA - Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture Traços na Paisagem - Lugar Invisível

Structural Engineering: Buro Happold Quadrante

Visual Identity: A Practice for Everyday Life

Restaurant Head Chef: David Jesus