Yesterday, July 25th, the inauguration of the new Lisbon Design Museum (MUDE) took place, after the completion of the requalification project led by Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, starting in 2021.
In a contribution made to the book “MUDE Building – Transformations from the perspective of design” which was distributed on the occasion of the inauguration, colleague Tiago Simões Vieira, Construction Director of this project, highlighted that “the requalification of the MUDE building — Design Museum revealed It will be a great challenge and, above all, a huge privilege for everyone who collaborated in carrying out the work.».
MUDE was created in 2009, occupying a historic building in Baixa Pombalina, formerly the headquarters of Banco Nacional Ultramarino, which was in poor condition for the functional and security needs of a museum center with the ambition of being a cultural reference in Lisbon. Even so, the Museum received an average of 2,000 visitors per day and hosted more than 70 exhibitions and 300 events.
In 2015, Lisbon City Council closed the doors of MUDE to begin a comprehensive requalification project that was the subject of an international competition and was awarded to a company that went into insolvency in 2018. A new tender was opened for a 2nd contract, Teixeira Duarte was the selected company and the renovation works resumed in 2021, never stopping even during the pandemic.
According to an interview given to Observador by the Director of MUDE, Bárbara Coutinho, «having Teixeira Duarte, a century-old company, as a partner was a fundamental element (…) If we make the simple ratio between what the project cost, the architectural work and the specialties across the total area, we are talking about something that is absolutely significant in terms of the extreme savings we made here.” Statements that attest to customer satisfaction in relation to Teixeira Duarte’s efficiency and its ability to overcome the challenges inherent in the execution of a unique work of «singular construction, different from all others, with non-obvious constructive solutions, where there was an appeal constant contribution to the creativity of the various participants.», mentions Tiago Simões Vieira in the aforementioned Book. The excerpt from the Book corresponding to the chapter “The challenges of the work, from the perspective of Teixeira Duarte” can be read in full here.
MUDE opened with an exhibition dedicated to the building itself, where the transformation of the space is explained, what needed to be rethought and preserved, through texts, photos and videos, and which can be seen until October 31st.
